On the social media disorder scale, I scored 2 out of 9, which means I answered yes to 2 questions. I asked my teen to answer the same questions to see how he would fare, and he scored 4 out of 9. The questions on the scale were interesting, but some were definitely geared towards children and teens. I would hope grown adults are not getting into arguments with parents and siblings over social media use. However, there’s clearly adults who do use social media to bully others.

Different patterns in social media use and the risk for cyberbullying likely varies across the world because of the difference in access and exposure. Some countries are more conservative and may limit what is shared on social media. Therefore, the risk of harm is lower in those countries vs countries who do not limit what can be shared, or social media use.