Evaluation of University Students’ Cyber Security Awareness and Cyberbullying and Cyber Victimization Levels in the COVID-19 Pandemic

Abstract

Objective: It is important for young people to recognize the concept of cyberbullying and gain coping skills so that they can fight against cyberbullying/victimization. The aim of this study is to determine the cyberbullying and cyber victimization levels and cyber security awareness of university students during the COVID-19 pandemic. Methods: The universe of the cross-sectional study consists of Kutahya Health Sciences University Vocational School students. The questionnaire forms prepared online were answered by 823 students. Survey form includes; the personal data form containing sociodemographic data, questions to measure the level of possession and usage features of information communication tools about cyber security awareness, and cyberbullying scale (CBS) and cyber victimization scale (CVS). The data analyses were performed using Mann Whitney-U test, Kruskal Wallis test and Spearman correlation. Results: 3.2% (n=26) of the students reported that they were cyberbullying and 35.1% (n=289) of the students reported that they were cyber-victimized. The median values of CBS and CVS scores were detected as; 1.5 [minimum (min): 0- maximum (max): 14] and 9 (min: 0-max: 30), respectively. The CVS score was found to be higher in those over the age of 22, in female students, in those who use the Internet for more than 5 hours a day besides online classes, and in students who increased the amount of cigarette/alcohol use in the last year (p<0.05). No statistically significant correlation was found between the CBS score and some characteristics of the students (p>0.05). Conclusion: While the frequency of cyberbullying and the scale score were very low among the students, it was found that 3 out of 10 students experienced cyber victimization and the scale score was not very high. However, the identification of risk groups exposed to cyber victimization is important in terms of developing future intervention programs and taking measures at the regional level.