A Longitudinal Study on Online Sexual Engagement, Victimization, and Psychosocial Well-Being

Abstract

Several cross-sectional studies have shown that online sexual engagement (OSE) in the form of sexting or sexy self-presentation on social media is associated with an increased risk of experiencing negative consequences, such as online sexual victimization (OSV) or lower levels of psychosocial well-being. However, representative and longitudinal studies are scarce. The current study follows three research goals: (1) examining the prevalence of OSE and OSV among a random-quota sample of 1,019 German Internet users aged 14–64 years, (2) examining gender and age-related differences in OSE and OSV, and (3) examining the longitudinal relationships between OSE, OSV, and psychosocial well-being over a period of 1 year. Our results indicate that OSE and OSV are relatively widespread: 17.7% of the participants had already experienced OSV, 25.3% indicated that they had presented themselves online in a sexualized manner at least once in the past 2 months, and 22.7% showed a certain willingness to engage in sexting. We found higher rates among the younger participants. However, to a certain degree, older individuals were also affected. Male participants showed higher sexting willingness and more often presented themselves in a sexualized manner than females, whereas only small differences related to OSV were found. Concerning relationships with psychosocial well-being, our cross-sectional results showed that OSE, OSV, and mental problems are intercorrelated. Furthermore, we detected a significant long-term relationship between higher sexting willingness at time 1 and more victimization experienced 1 year later, whereas no significant longitudinal associations with lower levels of psychosocial well-being were identified.

Factores de riesgo vinculados a la cibervictimización en población joven y adolescente

“…Lo descrito dejó abierta una contradicción con los estudios transversales, en los que los problemas de salud mental y emocional se vincularon a la cibervictimización. Para Reer et al (2021), la conducta de compromiso sexual en línea pudo enmarcarse en la cultura y no necesariamente en problemas de salud mental; entre tanto para Espinoza et al (2020), la soledad no apareció vinculada a la cibervictimización, pero si a la victimización tradicional.…”

“…La influencia del contexto social, fue ampliamente tratada a la luz de teorías como el Aprendizaje Social (Akers, 1985), el Control Social (Hirschi, 1969 y la Asociación Diferencial (Sutherland, 1949), entre los autores revisados no se encontraron contradicciones sustanciales, antes bien resaltó el esfuerzo de la sociedad china para trasladar sus estándares éticos al mundo virtual y estudiar el impacto ejercido sobre los perpertradores de la cibervictimización. Los factores individuales marcaron su relevancia en los dos enfoques: soledad y ansiedad (Espinoza et al, 2020); depresión y decisiones personales (Reer et al, 2021), como predictores fuertes para la cibervictimización. En los estudios surge la soledad, como una paradoja en un mundo hiperconectado, donde el aislamiento social y emocional está relacionado con el tiempo que los estudiantes pasan en línea (Ang et al, 2012) y que se vincula con la preocupación que sienten los jóvenes al anticipar que no pueden causar una impresión positiva en los otros (La Greca & López, 1998).…”

Longitudinal Sexting Research: A Systematic Review

“…The majority of the studies were conducted using participants from the United States (n = 9), followed by Spain (n = 5) and the Netherlands (n = 3). Most studies recruited adolescent samples at baseline (n = 20), with only three studies [34][35][36] using young adult and/or adult samples throughout. Table 2 provides a summary of the included studies and relevant extracted data.…”

“…One study [34] conceptualized pressured sexting as a part of cyber sexual aggression, which also included online sexual harassment, hassling, and virtual rape behaviours. Another study [35] presented sext-sending and sexy self-presentation (i.e., displaying oneself in an intimate manner on social media) combined as online sexual engagement. Finally, one study [39] measured sexually related online activities, which included sext-sending, sext receiving, engaging in virtual sex, and discussing sexual experiences with unknown individuals.…”

“…Overall, eight studies provided longitudinal findings regarding associations between sexting and psychological outcomes, with mixed findings. Four studies found sexting behaviours at baseline did not predict future symptoms of depression and anxiety [34,35,42,47]. In contrast, one study found that sexting at baseline predicted symptoms of anxiety and depression during follow-up [45].…”