The Impact of Adolescent Internet Addiction on Sexual Online Victimization: The Mediating Effects of Sexting and Body Self-Esteem

Alicia Tamarit, Konstanze Schoeps, Montserrat Peris-Hernández and Inmaculada Montoya-Castilla
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Alicia Tamarit: Department of Personality, Assessment and Psychological Treatment, Faculty of Psychology, University of Valencia, 46022 Valencia, Spain
Konstanze Schoeps: Department of Personality, Assessment and Psychological Treatment, Faculty of Psychology, University of Valencia, 46022 Valencia, Spain
Montserrat Peris-Hernández: Department of Personality, Evaluation and Psychological Treatments of the University of the Basque Country, 48940 Leioa, Spain
Inmaculada Montoya-Castilla: Department of Personality, Assessment and Psychological Treatment, Faculty of Psychology, University of Valencia, 46022 Valencia, Spain

IJERPH, 2021, vol. 18, issue 8, 1-17

Abstract: Adolescents’ problematic use of the internet and the risk of sexual online victimization are an increasing concern among families, researchers, professionals and society. This study aimed to analyze the interplay between adolescents’ addiction to social networks and internet, body self-esteem and sexual–erotic risk behavior online: sexting, sextortion and grooming. While sexting refers to the voluntary engagement in texting sexual–erotic messages, sextortion and grooming are means of sexual–erotic victimization through the use of the internet. Participants were 1763 adolescents (51% girls), aged 12 to 16 years ( M = 14.56; SD = 1.16), from public ( n = 1068; 60.60%) and private ( n = 695; 39.40%) high schools in the Basque Country (Spain). We carried out structural equation modeling (SEM) using Mplus to assess the mediating effects of body self-esteem in the relationship between addiction to social media and internet and sexual–erotic risk behavior. The results showed that internet addiction predicts online sexual victimization; specifically, the best predictors of sexting, sextortion and grooming victimization were symptoms of internet addiction and geek behavior. Body self-esteem and sexting mediated the relationship between internet addiction and sexual online victimization in adolescents. These results highlight the importance of attending to adolescents’ mental health regarding their online behavior, considering the risk and protective factors involved, due to its close association with online sexual victimization.

Keywords: internet addiction; body self-esteem; sexting; sextortion; grooming; structural equation modeling (SEM) (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

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