@article{ref1,
title="Cyberstalking in a large sample of social network users: prevalence, characteristics, and impact upon victims",
journal="Cyberpsychology, behavior and social networking",
year="2014",
author="Dreßing, Harald and Bailer, Josef and Anders, Anne and Wagner, Henriette and Gallas, Christine",
volume="17",
number="2",
pages="61-67",
abstract="The aim of this study was to determine the prevalence of cyberstalking victimization, characteristics of victims and offenders, and the impact of cyberstalking on the victims' well-being and mental health. An online survey of 6,379 participants was carried out, involving users of the German social network StudiVZ. Subjective mental health status was assessed with the WHO-5 well-being index. The prevalence of cyberstalking was estimated at 6.3%. In various aspects, cyberstalking was comparable to offline stalking: cyberstalking occurred most often in the context of ex-partner relationships; most of the victims were female and the majority of the perpetrators were male. Compared to non-victims, victims of cyberstalking scored significantly poorer on the WHO-5 well-being index. The prevalence of cyberstalking is considerable. However, if stringent definition criteria comparable to those of offline stalking are applied, it is not a mass phenomenon. The negative impact of cyberstalking on the victims' well-being appears similar to that of offline stalking. Hence, cyberstalking should be taken as seriously as offline variants of stalking by legal authorities and victim assistance professionals.<p /> <p>Language: en</p>",
language="en",
issn="2152-2715",
doi="10.1089/cyber.2012.0231",
url="http://dx.doi.org/10.1089/cyber.2012.0231"
}