Stress, suicidality, post-traumatic stress disorder, emotional distress, and social isolation among U.S. adults experiencing online abuse or harassment

Technology-facilitated abuse (TFA) is the misuse of technology to harm, harass, threaten, coerce, exploit, or violate a person. The purpose of this study was to quantify the prevalence, and identify correlates, of five conditions (i.e., feeling sick from stress, feeling suicidal, experiencing post-traumatic stress disorder symptoms, emotional distress, and social isolation) among U.S. adults ages 18–35 years old who have been victims of TFA. A cross-sectional survey was completed by 2752 U.S. adults between November 2020 and May 2021. Multivariable logistic regression estimated the likelihood of a health-related condition of interest. We found that 70% of U.S. young adults have experienced TFA, and that women, gender minority, and LGBQPA+ individuals were at elevated risk for this form of abuse victimization. Victims experienced an average of 6.5 incidents of TFA. Risk markers for experiencing health conditions were identifying as a cis-gender female or non-binary person, LGBQPA+ sexual orientation, having a high school education or less, being single, and identifying as Asian or Asian American. Findings highlight the need for TFA prevention strategies. Designers of the technologies that are used for TFA should improve designs to prevent abuse.