Health consequences for cyberbullied adolescents with disabilities: Implications for social justice, empowerment, and support

Cyberbullying victimization represents an emerging threat to the well-being of adolescents with disabilities that creates consequences for their physical, mental, and emotional health. These health consequences can include somatic/psychosomatic illness, aggressive defenses, mental health repercussions (e.g. low self-esteem, depression, post-traumatic stress disorder, suicide ideation), and negative effects on school participation and performance.

This presentation defines cyberbullying and the role of virtual environments (e.g. social networking sites, texting exchanges, chat rooms, threaded forums) in shaping cyberbullying victimization and differentiating cyberbullying from face-to-face bullying. The discussion outlines major risk factors for cyberbullying victimization and ways in which cyberbullying can affect the long-term health—physical, mental, and emotional—of adolescents with disabilities. The presentation also examines collaborative approaches through which professionals, advocates, and families develop services and support systems that strengthen resiliency for adolescents with disabilities, while minimizing their future risk of cyberbullying victimization.

The presenter—a Ph.D. Candidate on the autism spectrum—describes a multi-phase, mixed methods study (involving surveys and virtual focus groups) of cyberbullying victimization of adolescents on the autism spectrum. Results from this research inform development of assistive information technology solutions for empowering youth on the autism spectrum against cyberbullying. These IT solutions—offline software applications and companion online sites—support this adolescent disability population in learning and practicing adaptive strategies for countering cyberbullying and reporting victimization to adults and peer mentors. This research introduces implications for juvenile justice systems; anti-bullying policies and programs; and practices and policies promoting health, well-being, participation, and social justice.