Investigation of The Frequency of Internet Addiction, Peer Bullying and Cyber Bullying In Adolescent Patients Diagnosed With Generalized Idiopatic Epilepsy

Objective: In the era of technology with the over-usage of internet, the risk of being exposed to peer-bullying , cyberbullying or being the person who practices cyberbullying increases.Some studies shows that epilepsy patients are more exposed to peer-to-peer bullying. It was aimed to examine the relationship between peer bullying, cyberbullying and internet addiction in patients with idiopathic generalized epilepsy. Materials and Methods: 45 healthy individuals and 45 patients with idiopathic generalized epilepsy were included in the study. A questionnaire including sociodemographic information, internet addiction, exposure to cyber bullying and peer-to-peer bullying scale was applied. All cases included in the study underwent a detailed psychiatric examination. Results: There was no significant relationship between the presence of epilepsy and internet addiction, exposure to cyberbullying or peer-to-peer bullying. It was determined that individuals with better socioeconomic status felt internet deprivation significantly more than others. At the social isolation subtitle of internet addiction, middle-school students found isolated themselves more socially than high school students. When the participants' exposure to cyberbullying and peer bullying was compared with age, gender, income status, parental education, and characteristics of epilepsy, no significant relationship was found between them. Conclusions: We think that epilepsy patients are more bullied and spend more time on the internet by isolating themselves socially in response to this. Although no relationship was found between the presence of epilepsy and internet addiction or exposure to cyberbullying and peer-to-peer bullying in our study, we think that this relationship will be demonstrated in further studies with more participants.