Internet risky behaviours among youth with visual impairment

Abstract

Background Young individuals with visual impairment (VI), exposed to higher risky of social exclusion, might be more prone to Internet risky behaviours including electronic aggression. Objective Different types of Internet risky behaviours and the average time spent online were investigated among students with VI. These behaviours were analyzed for the relationship with witnessing, perpetrating and becoming a victim of electronic aggression. Methods A total of 490 special needs school students with VI answered a self-administered questionnaire. The average time spent online, different types of risky Internet activities and electronic aggression were recorded, as well as sociodemographic characteristics. Results Male students downloaded software illegally, hacked, published and viewed sites with sexual content, and gambled online statistically more often than female counterparts. Concerning electronic aggression, more than half of participants were engaged as witnesses, every fifth student as a victim and 11.6% as perpetrators. Two sets of ordinal logistic regression analyses have shown that communication with a person promoting violence and an excessive amount of time spent online during weekends predicted significantly the risk of witnessing and being a victim of electronic aggression. Additionally, communicating with a person promoting violence and an excessive amount of time spent online during schooldays were associated with increased odds for engagement in electronic aggression as a perpetrator. Conclusions Population with VI is prone to risky Internet use and likely to be engaged in electronic aggression. New instruments and preventive strategies need to be developed, as well as diagnostic tools tailored specifically to the needs of young people with VI.