Predictors of online child sexual exploitation through image-sharing

Background: There is growing concern about youth online safety, including the risks of youths having their nude/near-nude images and videos solicited and reshared by adults and similar-age peers online. As such, it is important to identify correlates of youths having their images solicited and nonco...

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Main Authors: Michael C. Seto, Kailey Roche, Mariesa Nicholas, Jennifer Newton
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Elsevier 2024-08-01
Series:Child Protection and Practice
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Online Access:http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2950193824000457
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author Michael C. Seto
Kailey Roche
Mariesa Nicholas
Jennifer Newton
author_facet Michael C. Seto
Kailey Roche
Mariesa Nicholas
Jennifer Newton
author_sort Michael C. Seto
collection DOAJ
description Background: There is growing concern about youth online safety, including the risks of youths having their nude/near-nude images and videos solicited and reshared by adults and similar-age peers online. As such, it is important to identify correlates of youths having their images solicited and nonconsensually reshared online. Objective: We looked at predictors of image-sharing behaviors in a sample of Australian parent-youth dyads. Participants and setting: Participants were 1349 Australian parent-youth dyads (youth Mage = 15.5, SD = 1.1, 54.1% female) who completed an anonymous online survey. Methods: Questions about demographic characteristics, parental internet mediation, youth social supports, online bullying victimization, online sexual experiences, and internet knowledge were asked. The outcome variables were youths being solicited to send images to someone online and having their images nonconsensually reshared online in the past year. Findings: Results showed that being a girl, experiencing online bullying, and having online sexual experiences were predictive of youth having their images solicited by someone online. Being younger, experiencing online bullying, having online sexual experiences, and having less internet knowledge were associated with youth having their images nonconsensually reshared online. Conclusions: These results have implications for parent and youth interventions. In addition to improving youth knowledge about resources for those experiencing solicitation online, interventions may benefit from taking a gendered approach, as being a girl has been a consistent predictor of victimization across studies. Future research should also aim to better understand the victimization experiences of non-White youths and youths belonging to the LGBTIQ+ ​community.
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spelling doaj-art-2d2917f92606415bbe93fccef9ba29892025-08-20T02:04:18ZengElsevierChild Protection and Practice2950-19382024-08-01210004510.1016/j.chipro.2024.100045Predictors of online child sexual exploitation through image-sharingMichael C. Seto0Kailey Roche1Mariesa Nicholas2Jennifer Newton3Royal Ottawa Health Care Group, Canada; Corresponding author. Forensic Research Unit, 1145 Carling Avenue, Ottawa, ON, K1Z 7K4, Canada.Royal Ottawa Health Care Group, CanadaeSafety Comissioner, AustraliaeSafety Comissioner, AustraliaBackground: There is growing concern about youth online safety, including the risks of youths having their nude/near-nude images and videos solicited and reshared by adults and similar-age peers online. As such, it is important to identify correlates of youths having their images solicited and nonconsensually reshared online. Objective: We looked at predictors of image-sharing behaviors in a sample of Australian parent-youth dyads. Participants and setting: Participants were 1349 Australian parent-youth dyads (youth Mage = 15.5, SD = 1.1, 54.1% female) who completed an anonymous online survey. Methods: Questions about demographic characteristics, parental internet mediation, youth social supports, online bullying victimization, online sexual experiences, and internet knowledge were asked. The outcome variables were youths being solicited to send images to someone online and having their images nonconsensually reshared online in the past year. Findings: Results showed that being a girl, experiencing online bullying, and having online sexual experiences were predictive of youth having their images solicited by someone online. Being younger, experiencing online bullying, having online sexual experiences, and having less internet knowledge were associated with youth having their images nonconsensually reshared online. Conclusions: These results have implications for parent and youth interventions. In addition to improving youth knowledge about resources for those experiencing solicitation online, interventions may benefit from taking a gendered approach, as being a girl has been a consistent predictor of victimization across studies. Future research should also aim to better understand the victimization experiences of non-White youths and youths belonging to the LGBTIQ+ ​community.http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2950193824000457YouthSexual solicitationNonconsensual resharingChild sexual exploitation
spellingShingle Michael C. Seto
Kailey Roche
Mariesa Nicholas
Jennifer Newton
Predictors of online child sexual exploitation through image-sharing
Child Protection and Practice
Youth
Sexual solicitation
Nonconsensual resharing
Child sexual exploitation
title Predictors of online child sexual exploitation through image-sharing
title_full Predictors of online child sexual exploitation through image-sharing
title_fullStr Predictors of online child sexual exploitation through image-sharing
title_full_unstemmed Predictors of online child sexual exploitation through image-sharing
title_short Predictors of online child sexual exploitation through image-sharing
title_sort predictors of online child sexual exploitation through image sharing
topic Youth
Sexual solicitation
Nonconsensual resharing
Child sexual exploitation
url http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2950193824000457
work_keys_str_mv AT michaelcseto predictorsofonlinechildsexualexploitationthroughimagesharing
AT kaileyroche predictorsofonlinechildsexualexploitationthroughimagesharing
AT mariesanicholas predictorsofonlinechildsexualexploitationthroughimagesharing
AT jennifernewton predictorsofonlinechildsexualexploitationthroughimagesharing