Cyberbullying and health: A preliminary investigation of the experiences of Canadian gay and bisexual adult men

Abstract

The majority of cyberbullying studies are within the school environment. This quantitative study investigates cyberbullying among Canadian gay and bisexual men outside of the educational setting through a cross-sectional survey. Of the 7,430 respondents, 4.6% reported cyberbullying in the past year, with younger, Aboriginal, lower-educated, lower-income respondents reporting higher odds of experiencing cyberbullying. Victimization from cyberbullying was significantly associated with experiences of antigay discrimination as well as worry about antigay prejudice. A variety of negative health outcomes were also associated with cyberbullying, including intimate partner violence and suicidality. Implications for social service providers and future research are discussed.

Keywords:

• cyberbullying
• homophobia
• gay men
• bisexual men

Acknowledgments

The authors would like to thank the Vancouver Foundation for supporting the Sex Now survey and the Public Health Agency of Canada for supporting the Investigaytors program, the community-based research group who supported the design and implementation of Sex Now. Thank you to the members of Investigaytors who helped with the survey design and recruitment, and to Rick Marchand and Terry Trussler from the Community-Based Research Center for Gay Men’s Health for their leadership.