LEARNED HELPLESSNESS AMONG THE ADOLESCENT VICTIMS OF CYBERBULLYING

Abstract

Cyberbullying is a new kind of bullying expressed through the web that has caught the eye of tons of parents, educators and researchers as a result of its effects on the mental state of adolescents. Studies show that adolescents who experience cyberbullying are more likely to experience feelings of negative emotions such as sadness, hopelessness, loneliness, insomnia, or worst, they are most likely have suicidal ideation when compared to adolescents who do not experience cyberbullying. Adolescents who are being bullied on cyberspace tend to have difficulty breaking away from the aggressive behaviours directed at them, this makes adolescents tend to develop learned helplessness which predicts several negative traits ranging from academic delays to the development of depressive moods and delayed symptoms of depression and it also can lead to suicidal ideation. This study aim to describe the level of learned helplessness among 143 adolescents who experienced cyberbullying in Indonesia. This study is using quantitative descriptive as a research method. Participants in this research are 143 adolescent victims of cyberbullying aged from 12 to 21 years. The measuring instrument used in this study was Learned Helplessness Scale (LHS), The study provide acknowledgement that most participants show moderate level of  learned helplessness. This study may trigger further study about this related topic. Social support may also be considered in studying the learned helplessness among participants who experienced cyberbullying. Objectivity and specification of the cyberbullying experienced by participants must be considered for further study.