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Sexual activity online may result in positive experiences for young people, or lead them to engage in risky behaviours possibly resulting in sexual assault or abuse. The aim of our study was to investigate associations between online sexual behaviours among Swedish youth and background factors as well as aspects of well-being. The behaviours investigated were: having sex online with a contact met online, having sex with an online contact offline, posting sexual pictures online, and selling sex online. We used data from a representative sample of 3,432 Swedish youth who were asked about their lifetime experiences as well as their experiences within the previous year. We hypothesized that more advanced online sexual behaviours were associated with more problematic background factors, worse psychosocial well-being and riskier behaviours in general. Bivariate relationships were evaluated followed by a multiple logistic regression model. Our data suggested that most Swedish youth do not perform any of the assessed online sexual behaviours. Young people who reported online sexual behaviour showed a more problematic background, rated their health as poorer, had a more sexualized life and had experienced more sexual or physical abuse. Professionals who work with young people need to help them better evaluate potential risks online and offer support when needed. Youths who sell sex online are especially at risk and need extra attention, as they might be in greater need of protection and therapeutic support.

This article provides 12-month prevalence rates of youth exposure to websites which encourage self-harm or suicide and examines whether such exposure is related to thoughts of self-harm and thoughts of suicide in the past 30 days. Data were collected via telephone from a nationally representative survey of 1560 Internet-using youth, ages 10-17 residing in the United States. One percent (95% CI: 0.5%, 1.5%) of youth reported visiting a website that encouraged self-harm or suicide. Youth who visited such websites were seven times more likely to say they had thought about killing themselves; and 11 times more likely to think about hurting themselves, even after adjusting for several known risk factors for thoughts of self-harm and thoughts of suicide. Given that youth thinking about self-harm and suicide are more likely to visit these sites, they may represent an opportunity for identification of youth in need of crisis intervention., (Copyright © 2014 The Foundation for Professionals in Services for Adolescents. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

The purpose of this study was to compare sexual-minority and heterosexual youths' exposure to sexual abuse off-line, problematic sexual meetings off-line with person/s met online and online harassment with regard to prevalence, psychological well-being and support seeking. A nationally representative sample of 3,432 Swedish high school seniors completed an anonymous school-based survey about sexuality, health, sexual abuse and online-related sexual victimisation or harassment. Sexual-minority adolescents reported a greater rate of sexual abuse, problematic sexual meetings off-line with person/s met online and online harassment, compared to heterosexual youth. When compared to non-victimised heterosexual adolescents, victimised heterosexual adolescents and non-victimised and victimised sexual-minority adolescents reported more psychiatric symptoms, lower self-esteem and a weaker sense of coherence. Same-sex sexual orientation was related to more psychiatric symptoms, lower self-esteem and a weaker sense of coherence even when controlled for victimisation and gender. Compared to victimised heterosexual adolescents, victimised sexual-minority adolescents were more likely to seek support because of sexual abuse (females) or Internet-related problems (males and females). Results for sexual-minority youth were basically the same whether sexual orientation was assessed as sexual identity or as sexual or emotional attraction. Health care providers are challenged to not only provide the same care to sexual-minority youth who seek counselling or psychiatric treatment for mental health problems or problems related to victimisation that all adolescents should receive but also to find ways to address topics like prevention of sexual abuse and risk-taking behaviour online or off-line.

Highlights: [•] One in five Swedish youth had experience of voluntary sexual exposure online. [•] Girls had this experience more often than boys, but boys did the more sexual revealing forms. [•] The youth with experience of voluntary sexual exposure were more often victims of a variety of online harassments. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Lifetime experience of selling sex among adolescents was investigated together with sociodemographic correlates, parent–child relationship, and the existence of people to confide in. Changes over time regarding the selling of sex were investigated through a comparison of data from 2004 and 2009. This study was carried out using 3,498 adolescents from a representative sample of Swedish high school students with a mean age 18.3 years. Of these adolescents, 1.5% stated that they had given sexual services for reimbursement and both male and female buyers existed. The adolescents who had sold sex had a poorer parent–child relationship during childhood and had fewer people to confide in about problems and worries. Changes over time were found especially regarding the Internet as a contact source and also immigrant background. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This study is one of the first that investigated youth's response to unwanted Internet experiences, not only for those youth who were bothered or distressed but for all youth who reported the experience. Three types of response were examined: telling someone about the incident and ending the unwanted situation by active or passive coping. Responses to the following unwanted Internet experiences were analysed: Sexual solicitation, online harassment and unwanted exposure to pornography . The study was based on data from the Third Youth Internet Safety Survey (YISS-3), a telephone survey with a nationally representative U.S. sample of 1,560 Internet users, ages 10 to 17, and their caretakers. Youth's responses to unwanted Internet experiences differ depending on the type of unwanted experiences, whether they are distressed or have other negative reactions caused by the incident and -- to some degree -- other youth characteristics and incident characteristics. For example, not all youth who are distressed tell someone and not all youth who tell someone are distressed. Also, the reasons for telling may differ depending on whom they tell, and youth tell somebody less often about their victimization if they also are online perpetrators, but of different types of unwanted Internet experiences. Internet safety information for parents and parents' active mediation of Internet safety does not seem to result in youth telling more often about unwanted Internet experiences. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]