Elucidating College Students' Cyberstalking Victimization Experiences.

Area of Science:

• Psychology
• Criminology
• Sociology

Background:

• College students are frequent social media users, necessitating research into their cyberstalking experiences.
• Cyberstalking victimization among this demographic requires thorough investigation due to high platform engagement.

Purpose of the Study:

• To explore the prevalence and characteristics of cyberstalking victimization among college students on social media.
• To understand the nature of cyberstalking behaviors and victim-perpetrator relationships in a university setting.

Main Methods:

• A cross-sectional online survey was administered to 200 college students at a large state university.
• Participants self-identified cyberstalking experiences, providing details on perpetrator relationship, duration, timing, and behaviors (online and offline).

Main Results:

• 14% of participants reported experiencing cyberstalking victimization.
• Victimization commonly involved peers, strangers, or ex-partners, with 82.1% of experiences lasting six months or less.
• Nearly all victims (96.4%) experienced communication technology behaviors, and 92.9% experienced social media-specific behaviors.

Conclusions:

• Findings highlight the significant prevalence of cyberstalking victimization within the college student population.
• Results suggest expanding research scope and implementing screening for cyberstalking in university settings.