Cyberaggressions are behaviours by people that use communication technologies, such as social media networks, email, or text messages, to attack other people. When cyberaggressions meet certain criteria, cyberharassment is considered to be occurring.

Cyberharassment is defined as an intentional aggressive behaviour that occurs repeatedly (once or twice a month, at least) against a person who cannot easily defend themselves, within an electronic context. 

Research into this phenomenon suggests that, like traditional harassment, victimization due to cyberharassment is associated with numerous negative consequences, including poor academic performance, learning difficulties, anxiety, depression, substance abuse, or self-harm and suicidal ideation. Furthermore, research conducted to date shows that the negative consequences of harassment persist over time, even long after it has ended.

However, although the study of cyberharassment in educational environments has been receiving greater attention in recent years, few studies focus on victims with specific educational support needs (NEAE). These specific needs include physical, cognitive, or sensory disabilities; difficulties affecting speech, language, and communication (such as language disorder or autistic spectrum disorder); learning and attention disorders (such as dyslexia or attention deficit and hyperactivity disorder, ADHD), or high abilities. According to official sources, nearly 750,000 non-university students present NEAE in Spain, which constitutes approximately one in every ten, with rates that increase notably every year.

Taking into account these data, the aim of this study is to examine the prevalence, certain mental health indicators, and protective factors against cyberharassment in young Spanish people with and without specific educational support needs.

To examine the questions raised in this study, 2,400 Spanish adolescents aged between 12 and 17 years, most of whom were studying Compulsory Secondary Education, were surveyed. 

From the answers to the survey, it is observed that 46.8% of young people claim to have experienced some type of violence by cybernetic means in the last two months.

Some of the cyberaggressions reported were having been the target of offensive words or insults online (this being the most frequent type of cyberaggression, reported by nearly 3 out of every 10 students), having been excluded from or ignored in a social media network or chat, or having been threatened through messages on the computer or mobile. When considering the frequency of these cyberaggressions, it is evidenced that 9.5% of respondents have also suffered cyberharassment. 

After having recorded the different cyberaggressions suffered and their frequency, young people were provided with a definition of cyberharassment and asked if they considered that they themselves had suffered cyberharassment in the last two months. Only 21% of victims answered affirmatively. Therefore, it can be observed that the perception of being harassed is low, since 4 out of 5 victims would not be aware that they are suffering cyberharassment. 
In terms of sex, men showed a higher prevalence of cyberharassment, 10.9% against 8% presented by women. 

Young people who exhibit signs of having suffered some type of cyberaggression according to their answers showed worse psychosocial indicators than their peers.

Thus, victims of cyberharassment showed more symptoms of depression (difficulty in taking the initiative to do things, feeling sad and down, etc.), anxiety (breathing difficulties, worrying, etc.) and stress (overreacting, having difficulty relaxing, etc.). They also provided a lower overall judgement regarding their life satisfaction. It is important to highlight that mental health was worse the greater the cyberharassment suffered. In other words, those young people who have suffered more cyberaggressions and more frequently showed worse rates of depression, anxiety, stress, and life satisfaction.

Around 28.4% of the sample surveyed claimed to have some type of NEAE (a figure higher than the 12.2% reported by official sources in Compulsory Secondary Education during the 2020-2021 academic year), such as attention deficit disorder, with or without hyperactivity (ADHD), language development disorder, learning disorder or high abilities. When specifically examining the involvement of these young people as victims of cyberharassment, it was found that they were twice as likely as their peers without NEAE to be victims of cyberharassment. 

When analysing mental health indicators in greater depth, it was observed that young people who are victims of cyberharassment and also have some type of NEAE show worse results than victims without NEAE. Therefore, people with NEAE show greater vulnerability both to being victims of cyberharassment and to its adverse effects.

In this study, also examined were strategies that could reduce the negative consequences associated with cyberharassment. In other words, the interest focused on checking which strategies were related with a reduction in depression, anxiety, and stress, and dissatisfaction with life, as these could be part of prevention programmes within the educational context. In this sense, two main strategies were identified: seeking social support and problem-solving abilities.

The first of these, seeking social support, refers to those actions such as receiving a friend’s help, asking a family member for advice, or talking with the teacher. The second, problem-solving abilities, refers to strategies such as thinking about different solutions, knowing that there are things that can be done to improve the problem or make a greater effort to prevent something from happening again.

In contrast, proving ineffective against cyberharassment were strategies of avoidance, such as distancing oneself from the situation: acting as if nothing has happened, refusing to think about it, or trying to forget the matter.

As for cyberharassment rates in Spain, the data show that practically half of young Spanish people have suffered some kind of cyberaggression in the last two months. If we look at the frequency criterion, nearly one in every 10 young Spanish people is currently suffering cyberharassment. This means that in a classroom of 30 students, there could be up to 3 students suffering cyberharassment. However, the results also show that four out of five victims do not seem to be aware that they are suffering it.

With respect to psychological well-being indicators, the results show that victims present a greater presence of symptoms of depression, anxiety, and stress, and they are less satisfied with their lives. These results are consistent with previous empirical evidence and highlight the severe consequences that cyberharassment has for the mental health of anyone who suffers it.

People with specific educational support needs present a greater vulnerability to cyberharassment and, in addition, show greater social and emotional problems in comparison to their non-NEAE peers when also victimised. Previous literature suggests that specific characteristics of this social group (in terms of skills, knowledge, and resources for dealing with cyberharassment) could be related with this greater vulnerability and with worse consequences for their psychological health. 

Finally, this study also sought to identify protective factors that might reduce the negative effects of cyberharassment. In this sense, two coping strategies were relevant: the search for social support and the ability to solve problems. 

A fundamental limitation of this study is that its cross-sectional design (all variables were evaluated at a single point in time) does not allow cause-effect relationships to be established (we cannot affirm, for example, that the increase in depressive symptoms is due to cyberharassment). Despite this, the results obtained suggest that cyberharassment is associated with worse psychological well-being.

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