The Effectiveness of Video Modeling in Teaching Digital Safety Skills to Individuals With Intellectual Disabilities

Individuals with intellectual disabilities face additional risks in digital environments compared with their typically developing peers. Therefore, special attention should be paid to digital safety skills development. This study analyzed the effectiveness of video modeling in teaching individuals with intellectual disabilities how to make their Instagram profiles private. The study used a multiple-probe design across participants from single-subject research models and involved three middle school students (aged 12–15 years) with intellectual disabilities. Video modeling was effective in teaching the participants about making Instagram accounts private. While two students successfully generalized their skills to other devices, one did not. The participants maintained their acquired skills for one, three, and five weeks following the study. Parents were satisfied with the study and had favorable opinions regarding the learned skills. Video modeling can effectively teach digital safety skills to individuals with intellectual disabilities, thereby indicating its adaptability to various digital safety scenarios.