TY - JOUR
T1 - Assessing image-based sexual abuse
T2 - Measurement, prevalence, and temporal stability of sextortion and nonconsensual sexting (“revenge porn”) among adolescents
AU - Gámez-Guadix, Manuel
AU - Mateos-Pérez, Estibaliz
AU - Wachs, Sebastian
AU - Wright, Michelle
AU - Martínez, Jone
AU - Íncera, Daniel
N1 - Funding Information:
This study was supported by Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación (Spanish Government) Grant RTI2018-101167-B-I00.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2022 The Authors. Journal of Adolescence published by Wiley Periodicals LLC on behalf of Foundation for Professionals in Services to Adolescents.
PY - 2022/7
Y1 - 2022/7
N2 - Introduction: The aim of this study is to develop a new measure of victimization and perpetration of two frequent forms of image-based sexual abuse, namely sextortion (i.e., the threat of distributing sexual images to pressure the victim into doing something) and nonconsensual sexting (i.e., distributing sexual images of someone without the consent of the victim). Additional aims were to analyze the prevalence of these forms of victimization and perpetration and to examine their temporal stability over a 1-year period. Methods: The sample was made up of 1820 Spanish adolescents (mean age = 13.38, SD = 1.42; 929 girls, 878 boys, 3 nonbinary, and 10 did not indicate gender) who completed self-report instruments on image-based sexual abuse and related variables (e.g., cyberbullying victimization). Results: Confirmatory factor analysis supported a structure composed of the four hypothesized factors: sextortion victimization and perpetration, and nonconsensual sexting victimization and perpetration. Higher sexting, cyberbullying victimization, and symptoms of depression and anxiety had stronger associations with image-based sexual victimization than with perpetration, which showed evidence of concurrent validity. Prevalence was 2.6% and 0.7% for sextortion victimization and perpetration, respectively, and 3.4% and 4.9% for nonconsensual sexting victimization and perpetration, respectively. Temporal stability over 1 year was.26 for sextortion victimization,.19 for nonconsensual sexting victimization,.33 for nonconsensual sexting perpetration (all ps <.001), and nonsignificant for sextortion perpetration. The stability of nonconsensual sexting victimization was significantly higher for girls compared to boys, whereas nonconsensual sexting perpetration was more stable over 1 year for boys. Conclusions: Future studies must advance the analysis of the predictors and consequences of image-based sexual abuse among adolescents to better prevent this problem. Prevalence of sextortion and nonconsensual sexting is not negligible, and these problems should be particularly addressed in prevention programs.
AB - Introduction: The aim of this study is to develop a new measure of victimization and perpetration of two frequent forms of image-based sexual abuse, namely sextortion (i.e., the threat of distributing sexual images to pressure the victim into doing something) and nonconsensual sexting (i.e., distributing sexual images of someone without the consent of the victim). Additional aims were to analyze the prevalence of these forms of victimization and perpetration and to examine their temporal stability over a 1-year period. Methods: The sample was made up of 1820 Spanish adolescents (mean age = 13.38, SD = 1.42; 929 girls, 878 boys, 3 nonbinary, and 10 did not indicate gender) who completed self-report instruments on image-based sexual abuse and related variables (e.g., cyberbullying victimization). Results: Confirmatory factor analysis supported a structure composed of the four hypothesized factors: sextortion victimization and perpetration, and nonconsensual sexting victimization and perpetration. Higher sexting, cyberbullying victimization, and symptoms of depression and anxiety had stronger associations with image-based sexual victimization than with perpetration, which showed evidence of concurrent validity. Prevalence was 2.6% and 0.7% for sextortion victimization and perpetration, respectively, and 3.4% and 4.9% for nonconsensual sexting victimization and perpetration, respectively. Temporal stability over 1 year was.26 for sextortion victimization,.19 for nonconsensual sexting victimization,.33 for nonconsensual sexting perpetration (all ps <.001), and nonsignificant for sextortion perpetration. The stability of nonconsensual sexting victimization was significantly higher for girls compared to boys, whereas nonconsensual sexting perpetration was more stable over 1 year for boys. Conclusions: Future studies must advance the analysis of the predictors and consequences of image-based sexual abuse among adolescents to better prevent this problem. Prevalence of sextortion and nonconsensual sexting is not negligible, and these problems should be particularly addressed in prevention programs.
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U2 - 10.1002/jad.12064
DO - 10.1002/jad.12064
M3 - Article
C2 - 35719041
AN - SCOPUS:85132110951
SN - 0140-1971
VL - 94
SP - 789
EP - 799
JO - Journal of Adolescence
JF - Journal of Adolescence
IS - 5
ER -