Search

Objective: In light of public concern about the dangers to young people from maintaining online journals or "blogs," this exploratory paper examines whether bloggers are at increased risk for online sexual solicitation or harassment. Method: A national telephone survey of 1,500 youth Internet users, ages 10-17, conducted between March and June 2005. Results: Sixteen percent of youth Internet users reported blogging in the past year. Teenagers and girls were the most common bloggers, and bloggers were more likely than other youth to post personal information online. However, bloggers were "not" more likely to interact with people they met online and did not know in person. Youth who interacted with people they met online, regardless of whether (AOR=2.42, p less than 0.01) or not (AOR=2.36, p less than 0.001) they blogged, had higher odds of receiving online sexual solicitations. Bloggers who did not interact with people they met online were at "no" increased risk for sexual solicitation (AOR=1.41, ns). Moreover, posting personal information did not add to risk. However, youthful bloggers were at increased risk for online harassment, regardless of whether they also interacted with others online (AOR=2.65, p less than 0.01) or not (AOR=2.55, p less than 0.01). Conclusion: Prevention messages about blogging need to directly address the risks of interacting with people youth meet online and the risk of online harassment.

The publicity about online "predators" who prey on naive children using trickery and violence is largely inaccurate. Internet sex crimes involving adults and juveniles more often fit a model of statutory rape--adult offenders who meet, develop relationships with, and openly seduce underage teenagers--than a model of forcible sexual assault or pedophilic child molesting. This is a serious problem, but one that requires approaches different from those in current prevention messages emphasizing parental control and the dangers of divulging personal information. Developmentally appropriate prevention strategies that target youths directly and acknowledge normal adolescent interests in romance and sex are needed. These should provide younger adolescents with awareness and avoidance skills while educating older youths about the pitfalls of sexual relationships with adults and their criminal nature. Particular attention should be paid to higher risk youths, including those with histories of sexual abuse, sexual orientation concerns, and patterns of off- and online risk taking. Mental health practitioners need information about the dynamics of this problem and the characteristics of victims and offenders because they are likely to encounter related issues in a variety of contexts.

Objective: To explore factors that facilitate the receipt of mental health treatment among juvenile crime victims. Method: Telephone interviews were conducted with a national sample of 157 caretakers whose children had suffered a serious sexual or physical assault in the previous year. Results: Twenty-two percent of caretakers had thought about getting professional counseling for their child victims, and 20% of the child victims actually received it. But half of the families who thought about it did not follow through on their consideration. Moreover, nearly half of those victimized children who actually received counseling did so without their families reporting that they had considered it in advance. The level of symptoms and parent-child relationship factors were related to considering counseling which was in turn strongly related to actually getting counseling. Other factors were independently related to receiving counseling, such as the victimization occurring at school and the victim being perceived as at fault to some degree. Advice to get counseling and medical insurance also played roles. Conclusions: These findings suggested two pathways to counseling. One occurred via direct parental concern, and was associated with such variables as parental perceptions that the child was depressed or withdrawn or that the parent-child relationship had been negatively affected. The other pathway occurred independent of parental concern, most likely via school interventions, because this counseling was in conjunction with school victimizations.

Surveyed Internet-using youth and their caretakers nationwide to investigate youth exposure to unwanted sexual material. One-quarter of the adolescents encountered unwanted sexual pictures in the past year. About one-quarter of those exposed were extremely upset, while the rest had no negative reactions. The use of filtering and blocking software modestly reduced unwanted exposure. Parental supervision did not result in reduced exposure. (SM)

Uses data from a national survey of adolescent Internet users to describe online relationships. Fourteen percent of the youths interviewed reported close online friendships during the past year, 7% reported face-to-face meetings, and 2% reported online romances. Few youths reported bad experiences with online friends. (GCP)

The publicity about online 'predators' who prey on naive children using trickery and violence is largely inaccurate. Internet sex crimes involving adults and juveniles more often fit a model of statutory rape--adult offenders who meet, develop relationships with, and openly seduce under-age teenagers--than a model of forcible sexual assault or pedophilic child molesting. This is a serious problem, but one that requires approaches different from those in current prevention messages emphasizing parental control and the dangers of divulging personal information. Developmentally appropriate prevention strategies that target youths directly and acknowledge normal adolescent interests in romance and sex are needed. These should provide younger adolescents with awareness and avoidance skills while educating older youths about the pitfalls of sexual relationships with adults and their criminal nature. Particular attention should be paid to higher risk youths, including those with histories of sexual abuse, sexual orientation concerns, and patterns of off- and online risk taking. Mental health practitioners need information about the dynamics of this problem and the characteristics of victims and offenders because they are likely to encounter related issues in a variety of contexts. Keywords: Internet, adolescents, child sexual abuse, statutory rape, sexual offending

OBJECTIVE. The goal was to assess the extent of unwanted and wanted exposure to online pornography among youth Internet users and associated risk factors. METHODS. A telephone survey of a nationally representative sample of 1500 youth Internet users aged 10 to 17 years was conducted between March and June 2005. RESULTS. Forty-two percent of youth Internet users had been exposed to online pornography in the past year. Of those, 66% reported only unwanted exposure. Multinomial logistic regression analysis was used to compare youth with unwanted exposure only or any wanted exposure with those with no exposure. Unwanted exposure was related to only 1 Internet activity, namely, using file-sharing programs to download images. Filtering and blocking software reduced the risk of unwanted exposure, as did attending an Internet safety presentation by law enforcement personnel. Unwanted exposure rates were higher for teens, youth who reported being harassed or sexually solicited online or interpersonally victimized offline, and youth who scored in the borderline or clinically significant range on the Child Behavior Checklist subscale for depression. Wanted exposure rates were higher for teens, boys, and youth who used file-sharing programs to download images, talked online to unknown persons about sex, used the Internet at friends' homes, or scored in the borderline or clinically significant range on the Child Behavior Checklist subscale for rule-breaking. Depression also could be a risk factor for some youth, Youth who used filtering and blocking software had lower odds of wanted exposure. CONCLUSIONS. More research concerning the potential impact of Internet pornography on youth is warranted, given the high rate of exposure, the fact that much exposure is unwanted, and the fact that youth with certain vulnerabilities, such as depression, interpersonal victimization, and delinquent tendencies, have more exposure. Key Words Internet, sexually explicit material, pornography, adolescents, THERE HAS BEEN extensive worry about the possible harms to youth of being exposed to online pornography. These worries have been expressed by the medical establishment, (1-4) psychologists, (5-8) the [...]

Objective: This paper explores the characteristics associated with decisions to adopt or discontinue the use of filtering software, including a critical analysis of some explanations about why it is used or not used in households with children and adolescents. Method: This study consisted of a national telephone survey of households in the United States with youth (10 and 17 years) who use the Internet regularly. Interviews were completed with one youth in the appropriate age group and a parent or caretaker. Results: Thirty-three percent of parents reported using filtering or blocking software, with an additional 5% having discontinued its use within the past year. Parents were more likely to adopt filtering software if they had younger children (10-15 years), a high level of concern about exposure to sexual material on the Internet, more extensive knowledge of what their child did online, low trust in the child's ability to use the Internet responsibly, and if the child used America Online (AOL). Using the Internet for school assignments was associated with not having filtering software. Conclusion: Findings suggest the need for (1) evaluation research of filter programs used in a real family context and (2) the development of a variety of strategies to prevent exposure to inappropriate material for youth of different ages. Keywords: Family; Filter; Internet; Online; Software; Youth

Objective: To explore factors that facilitate the receipt of mental health treatment among juvenile crime victims. Method: Telephone interviews were conducted with a national sample of 157 caretakers whose children had suffered a serious sexual or physical assault in the previous year. Results: Twenty-two percent of caretakers had thought about getting professional counseling for their child victims, and 20% of the child victims actually received it. But half of the families who thought about it did not follow through on their consideration. Moreover, nearly half of those victimized children who actually received counseling did so without their families reporting that they had considered it in advance. The level of symptoms and parent-child relationship factors were related to considering counseling which was in turn strongly related to actually getting counseling. Other factors were independently related to receiving counseling, such as the victimization occurring at school and the victim being perceived as at fault to some degree. Advice to get counseling and medical insurance also played roles. Conclusions: These findings suggested two pathways to counseling. One occurred via direct parental concern, and was associated with such variables as parental perceptions that the child was depressed or withdrawn or that the parent-child relationship had been negatively affected. The other pathway occurred independent of parental concern, most likely via school interventions, because this counseling was in conjunction with school victimizations. Keywords: Treatment; Counseling; Sexual abuse; Assault

Reporting crimes to the police is a two-stage process. Victims and families first recognize whether a crime has occurred and, if so, are influenced by a variety of considerations in deciding whether to report it. In a national sample of physical and sexual assaults against juveniles, recognition of the assault as a crime was more likely for episodes involving adolescent (vs. preadolescent) victims, adult and multiple offenders, physical injuries, female victims, and when families had prior experiences with police. Among families who recognized the episode as a crime, actual reporting to police was more likely when the perpetrator was an adult, the family had been advised to report, the family had prior experience with the police, the family believed the police would take the episode seriously, and when the child was believed still to be in danger from the perpetrator. Reporting was less likely for assaults that occurred at school. Keywords: police; reporting; juvenile victims; sexual assault

This paper uses data from a national survey of adolescent Internet users (N = 1,501) to describe online relationships. Fourteen percent of the youths interviewed reported close online friendships during the past year, 7% reported face-to-face meetings with online friends, and 2% reported online romances. Two hundred forty-six youths provided details about one close online relationship. Most of these relationships were with same-age peers (70%) and crossed gender lines (71%). Many intersected with face-to-face social networks because they were initiated by introductions from friends or family (32%), involved people who lived in the vicinity (26%), were known to parents (74%), included offline contact by mail or telephone (70%), or involved face-to-face meetings (41%). Few youths reported bad experiences with online friends., Surveys indicate that large numbers of youths use the Internet to communicate with others (Roberts et al., 1999; Rosenbaum et al., 2000). As Internet use has expanded among young people, […]

Nonsexual genital assaults appear to be fairly common among junior high school-aged boys, and can cause psychological harm. Researchers studied a geographically stratified, random sample of 1,042 boys and 958 girls aged 10 to 16 who participated in a telephone survey. About 9% of the boys and 1% of the girls had experienced a nonsexual assault to their genitals in the previous year. An association was found between nonsexual genital assaults and subsequent depression and posttraumatic symptoms. Forty percent of the perpetrators were girls, who often were retaliating against aggression initiated by the boys. Boys felt less upset by nonsexual attacks on their genitals by girls than by older boys or unknown perpetrators, probably because they felt partly or mostly responsible., Objective. - to assess the frequency with which youth suffer nonsexual assaults to the genitals and their context and consequences. Design. - telephone survey with follow-up interview 1 year later. Setting. - general population of the United States living in households with telephones. Participants. - random sample of 1042 boys and 958 girls aged 10 through 16 years. Results. - a nonsexual assault to the genitals was experienced by 9.2% of the boys and 1.0% of the girls in the year prior to the initial interview and 9.1% of the boys and 2.2% of the girls in the year prior to the follow-up interview. Among the boys, about a quarter of the assaults involved some injury, but only one in 50 needed medical attention. The most common assailants were same-aged peers. The assaults occurred in a variety of contexts including gang attacks, peer fighting, bullying, and some situations in which girls retaliated against the genitals of harassing boys. Boy victims of nonsexual genital assault had significantly higher levels of posttraumatic and depression symptomatology than boys without such assaults. Conclusions. - nonsexual genital violence needs additional clinical and research attention. Youth should be educated about its possible consequences. Clinicians should ask about nonsexual genital violence when taking a history, particularly with youth who have experienced other kinds of assaults. (JAMA. 1995;274:1692-1697)

Victims portrayed in sexual abuse images may be resistant to participate in research because of embarrassment or shame due to the sensitive nature and potential permanency of images. No studies we are aware of explore reactions to participating in research after this type of crime. Telephone interviews were conducted with convenience samples of parents (n = 46) and adolescents who were victims of child sexual abuse (n = 11; some of whom were portrayed in sexual abuse images), and online surveys were completed by adult survivors depicted in abuse images (N = 133). The first lesson was that few agencies tracked this type of crime. This lack of tracking raises the question as to what types of data should be collected and tracked as part of an investigation. The second lesson was that few victims at the two participating agencies had been portrayed in sexual abuse images (4%-5%). The third lesson was that once possible cases were identified, we found relatively high percentages of consent to contact and interview completions. This implies that researchers and service providers should not be hesitant about conducting research after an investigation of child sexual abuse. The fourth lesson was that the vast majority of participants reported not being upset by the questions. We hope that the data presented here will encourage agencies to reconsider the types of data being tracked and will encourage researchers to conduct in-depth research with populations that are often difficult to reach to continue improving the professional response to child victimization. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

OBJECTIVE. We sought to identify the characteristics of youth who are targets of Internet harassment and characteristics related to reporting distress as a result of the incident. PARTICIPANTS AND METHODS. The Second Youth Internet Safety Survey is a national telephone survey of a random sample of 1500 Internet users between the ages of 10 and 17 years conducted between March and June 2005. Participants had used the Internet at least once a month for the previous 6 months. RESULTS. Nine percent of the youth who used the Internet were targets of online harassment in the previous year. Thirty-two percent of the targets reported chronic harassment (ie, harassment [greater than or equal to] 3 times in the previous year). In specific incidents, almost half (45%) knew the harasser in person before the incident. Half of the harassers (50%) were reportedly male, and half (51%) were adolescents. One in 4 targets reported an aggressive offline contact (eg, the harasser telephoned, came to the youth's home, or sent gifts); 2 in 3 disclosed the incident to another person. Among otherwise similar youth, the odds of being a target of Internet harassment were higher for those youth who harassed others online, reported borderline/clinically significant social problems, and were victimized in other contexts. Likewise, using the Internet for instant messaging, blogging, and chat room use each elevated the odds of being a target of Internet harassment versus those who did not engage in these online activities. All other demographic, Internet-use, and psychosocial characteristics were not related to reports of online harassment. Thirty-eight percent of the harassed youth reported distress as a result of the incident. Those who were targeted by adults, asked to send a picture of themselves, received an aggressive offline contact (eg, the harasser telephoned or came to the youth's home), and were preadolescents were each significantly more likely to report distress because of the experience. Conversely, the youth who visited chat rooms were significantly less likely to be distressed by the harassment. CONCLUSIONS. Internet harassment can be a serious event for some youth. Because there has been a significant increase in the prevalence of Internet harassment from 2000 to 2005, adolescent health professionals should continue to be vigilant about such experiences in the lives of young people with whom they interact. Social problems and online aggressive behavior are each associated with elevated odds of being the target of harassment. Thus, prevention efforts may be best aimed at improving the interpersonal skills of young people who choose to communicate with others using these online tools. Adolescent health professionals should be especially aware of events that include aggressive offline contacts by adult harassers or asking the child or adolescent to send a picture of themselves, because each of these scenarios increase the odds of reporting distress by more than threefold. Findings further support the call for the inclusion of Internet-harassment prevention in conventional antibullying programs empowering schools to address Internet bullying situations that occur between students. This will not solve all situations, however. We also must encourage Internet service providers to partner with consumers to be proactive in serious harassment episodes that violate criminal laws and service-provider codes of conduct. KEY WORDS. Internet, harassment, bullying, behavior problems, psychosocial problems. URL: www.pediatrics.org/cgi/doi/10.1542/peds.2006-0815