[Cyberstalking: prevalence and impact on victims].

Objective: The present study was designed to investigate prevalence and types of cyberstalking and its impact on mental health.

Method: Internet survey of 6379 participants in the Web-based social network Studi-VZ.

Results: The prevalence of cyberstalking was 6.3 %. Cyberstalking appears to be a frequently occurring phenomenon. Contrary to earlier assumptions, not based on empirical studies, there are striking similarities of cyberstalking and stalking in the real world. The gender distribution is comparable to real life stalking: Most of the victims are female and most of the perpetrators are male. Like other forms of stalking in the real world, cyberstalking occurs most often in the context of ex-partner relationships and contacts with friends, acquaintances and work colleagues. Compared to non-victims, victims of cyberstalking scored significantly poorer on the WHO-5 well-being index.

Conclusion: Due to the increasing use of web-based social networks psychiatrists and psychotherapists have to become experts in the issue of cyberstalking since victims will frequently ask them for help. As cyberstalking does not appear to be a separate diagnostic entity, similar counselling techniques that are applied for other forms of stalking should be provided.