PREVALENCE AND MANIFESTATIONS OF DIGITAL HARASSMENT AMONG YOUNG ADULTS IN SERBIA

Although the literature on digital violence is largely dominated by studies focusing on the pre-adolescent or adolescent population, young adults are a vulnerable category as well, due to a high prevalence of Internet use. The goal of this research was to examine the extent to which young adults in Serbia report committing or being exposed to different types of cyber harassment and to identify possible differences in gender and the level of attended education (secondary school or university). The research was conducted on 312 participants (32.69% male and 67.31% female), from 18 to 25 years (mean age = 19.23). The sample included high school seniors (33.33%) and university students (66.67%). Obtained results reveal that the most represented forms of cyber harassment are online stalking (52.56%), ignoring/excluding someone from groups on social networks (27.88%), harassment by phone calls (24.68%), and the use of false/someone else's identity or creating profiles in someone else's name (22.76%). We conclude that one of the main priorities in the digital era is to create a secure online environment not only for children and adolescents but also for young adults, as they too are frequently exposed to digital violence.