Abstract
Female adolescents are particularly at risk of body image concerns. These individuals tend to make greater use of Social Networks and this could lead adolescents into behaviors that increase the risk of online sexual victimization (OSV). This cross-sectional study seeks to investigate the relation between body image concerns and OSV in a sample of female adolescents (n = 229) and the mediating role of three types of risky online behaviors in this link. Body image concerns predict OSV both directly and indirectly. Two of the three risky online behaviors proved to be mediators of the indirect link, namely: indiscriminate expansion of online network of contacts; and willingness to have relationships with strangers met online. Surprisingly, the third behavior, Sexting and Exhibitionism, was not shown to be a mediating factor between body image concerns and OSV. From our results emerges that adolescent girls with a negative body perception have a higher risk of OSV, and the relation between the two variables can be mediated by some risky online behaviors. It is likely that female adolescents use SNs more and adopt risky online behaviors in order to receive gratification and reassurance about their negative body image.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Badenes-Ribera, L., Fabris, M. A., Gastaldi, F. G. M., Prino, L. E., & Longobardi, C. (2019). Parent and peer attachment as predictors of facebook addiction symptoms in different developmental stages (early adolescents and adolescents). Addictive Behaviors, 95, 226–232. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.addbeh.2019.05.009.
Baek, J., & Bullock, L. M. (2014). Cyberbullying: A cross-cultural perspective. Emotional and Behavioural Difficulties, 19(2), 226–238. https://doi.org/10.1080/13632752.2013.849028.
Beebe, T. J., Asche, S. E., Harrison, P. A., & Quinlan, K. B. (2004). Heightened vulnerability and increased risk-taking among adolescent chat room users: Results from a statewide school survey. Journal of Adolescent Health, 35(2), 116–123. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jadohealth.2003.09.012.
Bianchi, D., Morelli, M., Baiocco, R., & Chirumbolo, A. (2017). Sexting as the mirror on the wall: Body-esteem attribution, media models, and objectified-body consciousness. Journal of Adolescence, 61, 164–172. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.adolescence.2017.10.006.
Cernikova, M., Dedkova, L., & Smahel, D. (2018). Youth interaction with online strangers: Experiences and reactions to unknown people on the internet. Information, Communication & Society, 21(1), 94–110. https://doi.org/10.1080/1369118X.2016.1261169.
Chalfen, R. (2009). ‘It's only a picture’: Sexting,‘smutty’snapshots and felony charges. Visual Studies, 24(3), 258–268. doi:https://doi.org/10.1080/14725860903309203.
Li, P., Chang, L., Chua, T. H. H., & Loh, R. S. M. (2018). “Likes” as KPI: An examination of teenage girls’ perspective on peer feedback on Instagram and its influence on coping response. Telematics and Informatics, 35(7), 1994-2005.
Clay, D., Vignoles, V. L., & Dittmar, H. (2005). Body image and self-esteem among adolescent girls: Testing the influence of sociocultural factors. Journal of Research on Adolescence, 15(4), 451–477. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.15327795.2005.00107.x.
Cooper, P. J., Taylor, M. J., Cooper, Z., & Fairburn, C. G. (1987). The development and validation of the body shape questionnaire. International Journal of Eating Disorders, 6(4), 485–494.
Dakanalis, A., Zanetti, M. A., Riva, G., & Clerici, M. (2013). Psychosocial moderators of the relationship between body dissatisfaction and symptoms of eating disorders: A look at a sample of young Italian women. Revue Européenne de Psychologie Appliquée/European Review of Applied Psychology, 63(5), 323–334. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.erap.2013.08.001.
De Santisteban, P., & Gámez-Guadix, M. (2017). Prevalence and risk factors among minors for online sexual solicitations and interactions with adults. The Journal of Sex Research, 2, 1–12. https://doi.org/10.1080/00224499.2017.1386763.
Dufrasnes, A. C. (2017). Online Risk Behavior and Depression in Adolescence (Master's thesis).
Eurispes & Telefono Azzurro (2012). Indagine conoscitiva sulla condizione dell’infanzia dell’adolescenza in Italia [ExplorativeinvestigationaboutItaliancondition of infancy and adolescence]. Retrieved from http://www.azzurro.it/sites/default/files/Sintesi Indagine conoscitivaInfanziaAdolescenza 2012_1.pdf.
Fabris, M. A., Longobardi, C., Prino, L. E., & Settanni, M. (2018). Attachment style and risk of muscle dysmorphia in a sample of male bodybuilders. Psychology of Men & Masculinity, 19(2), 273. https://doi.org/10.1037/men0000096.
Frisén, A., Berne, S., & Lunde, C. (2014). Cybervictimization and body esteem: Experiences of Swedish children and adolescents. European Journal of Developmental Psychology, 11(3), 331–343. https://doi.org/10.1080/17405629.2013.825604.
Garaigordobil, M., & Machimbarrena, J. M. (2019). Victimization and perpetration of bullying/cyberbullying: Connections with emotional and behavioral problems and childhood stress. Psychosocial Intervention, 28(2), 67-73.
Halliwell, E., & Diedrichs, P. C. (2014). Testing a dissonance body image intervention among young girls. Health Psychology, 33(2), 201–204. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0032585.
Holland, G., & Tiggemann, M. (2016). A systematic review of the impact of the use of social networking sites on body image and disordered eating outcomes. Body Image, 17, 100–110. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bodyim.2016.02.008.
Kim, J. W., & Chock, T. M. (2015). Body image 2.0: Associations between social grooming on Facebook and body image concerns. Computers in Human Behavior, 48, 331–339. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chb.2015.01.009.
Levine, D. (2013). Sexting: A terrifying health risk … or the new normal for young adults? Journal of Adolescent Health, 52(3), 257–258. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jadohealth.2013.01.003.
Lewis-Smith, H., Diedrichs, P. C., & Halliwell, E. (2019). Cognitive-behavioral roots of body image therapy and prevention. Body Image. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bodyim.2019.08.009.
Livingstone, S., Haddon, L., Görzig, A., & Ólafsson, K. (2011). Risks and safety on the internet: the perspective of European children: full findings and policy implications from the EU Kids Online survey of 9–16 year olds and their parents in 25 countries. Retrieved from http://www.lse.ac.uk/media%40lse/research/EUKidsOnline/EU%20Kids%20II%20(2009-11)/EUKidsOnlineIIReports/D4FullFindings.pdf
Longobardi, C., Prino, L. E., Fabris, M. A., & Settanni, M. (2017). School violence in two Mediterranean countries: Italy and Albania. Children and Youth Services Review, 82, 254–261. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.childyouth.2017.09.037.
Longobardi, C., Badenes-Ribera, L., Fabris, M. A., Martinez, A., & McMahon, S. D. (2018). Prevalence of student violence against teachers: A meta-analysis. Psychology of Violence., 9(6), 596–610. https://doi.org/10.1037/vio0000202.
Madigan, S., Ly, A., Rash, C. L., Van Ouytsel, J., & Temple, J. R. (2018). Prevalence of multiple forms of sexting behavior among youth: A systematic review and meta-analysis. JAMA pediatrics. https://doi.org/10.1001/jamapediatrics.2017.5314.
Maezono, J., Hamada, S., Sillanmäki, L., Kaneko, H., Ogura, M., Lempinen, L., & Sourander, A. (2019). Cross-cultural, population-based study on adolescent body image and eating distress in Japan and Finland. Scandinavian Journal of Psychology, 60(1), 67–76. https://doi.org/10.1111/sjop.12485.
Mallinckrodt, B., Abraham, W., Wei, M., & Russell, D. (2006). Advances in testing the statistical significance of mediation effects. Journal of Counseling Psychology, 53, 372–378. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-0167.53.3.
Marengo, D., Longobardi, C., Fabris, M. A., & Settanni, M. (2018a). Highly-visual social media and internalizing symptoms in adolescence: The mediating role of body image concerns. Computers in Human Behavior, 82, 63–69. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chb.2018.01.003.
Marengo, D., Jungert, T., Iotti, N. O., Settanni, M., Thornberg, R., & Longobardi, C. (2018b). Conflictual student–teacher relationship, emotional and behavioral problems, prosocial behavior, and their associations with bullies, victims, and bullies/victims. Educational Psychology, 38(9), 1201–1217. https://doi.org/10.1080/01443410.2018.1481199.
Marengo, D., Settanni, M., & Longobardi, C. (2019). The associations between sex drive, sexual self-concept, sexual orientation, and exposure to online victimization in Italian adolescents: Investigating the mediating role of verbal and visual sexting behaviors. Children and Youth Services Review, 102, 18–26. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.childyouth.2019.04.023.
Marret, M. J., & Choo, W. Y. (2018). Victimization after meeting with online acquaintances: A cross-sectional survey of adolescents in Malaysia. Journal of Interpersonal Violence, 33(15), 2352–2378.
McLean, S. A., Paxton, S. J., & Wertheim, E. H. (2013). Mediators of the relationship between media literacy and body dissatisfaction in early adolescent girls: Implications for prevention. Body Image, 10(3), 282–289. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bodyim.2013.01.009.
Meier, E. P., & Gray, J. (2014). Facebook photo activity associated with body image disturbance in adolescent girls. Cyberpsychology, Behavior and Social Networking, 17(4), 199–206. https://doi.org/10.1089/cyber.2013.0305.
Mishna, F., Cook, C., Gadalla, T., Daciuk, J., & Solomon, S. (2010). Cyber bullying behaviors among middle and high school students. American Journal of Orthopsychiatry, 80(3), 362–374. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1939-0025.2010.01040.x.
Mitchell, K. J., Wolak, J., & Finkelhor, D. (2008). Are blogs putting youth at risk for online sexual solicitation or harassment? Child Abuse & Neglect, 32(2), 277–294. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chiabu.2007.04.015.
Montiel, I., & Carbonell, E. (2012). Cuestionario de victimización juvenil mediante internet y/o teléfono móvil [Juvenile Online Victimization Questionnaire, JOV-Q] Patent number 09/2011/1982. Valencia, Spain: Registro Propiedad Intelectual Comunidad Valenciana.
Montiel, I., Carbonell, E., & Pereda, N. (2016). Multiple online victimization of Spanish adolescents: Results from a community sample. Child Abuse & Neglect, 52, 123–134. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chiabu.2015.12.005.
Morelli, M., Bianchi, D., Baiocco, R., Pezzuti, L., & Chirumbolo, A. (2016). Sexting, psychological distress and dating violence among adolescents and young adults. Psicothema, 28(2), 137–142. https://doi.org/10.7334/psicothema2015.193.
Preacher, K., & Hayes, A. (2008). Asymptotic and resampling strategies for assessing and comparing indirect effects in multiple mediator models. Behavior Research Methods, 40, 879–891. https://doi.org/10.3758/BRM.40.3.879.
Prentky, R., Burgess, A., Dowdell, E. B., Fedoroff, P., Malamuth, N., & Schuler, A. (2010). A multi-prong approach to strengthening internet child safety. Final Report submitted to the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention. US Department of Justice: Office of Justice Programs.
Ramos-Salazar, L. (2017). Cyberbullying victimization as a predictor of cyberbullying perpetration, body image dissatisfaction, healthy eating and dieting behaviors, and life satisfaction. Journal of interpersonal violence. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1177/0886260517725737.
Settanni, M., Marengo, D., Fabris, M. A., & Longobardi, C. (2018). The interplay between ADHD symptoms and time perspective in addictive social media use: A study on adolescent Facebook users. Children and Youth Services Review, 89, 165–170. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.childyouth.2018.04.031.
Shagar, P. S., Donovan, C. L., Loxton, N., Boddy, J., & Harris, N. (2019). Is thin in everywhere?: A cross-cultural comparison of a subsection of tripartite influence model in Australia and Malaysia. Appetite, 134, 59–68. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.appet.2018.12.025.
Sklenarova, H., Schulz, A., Schuhmann, P., Osterheider, M., & Neutze, J. (2018). Online sexual solicitation by adults and peers–results from a population based German sample. Child Abuse & Neglect, 76, 225–236. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chiabu.2017.11.005.
Tiggemann, M., & Slater, A. (2013). NetGirls: The internet, Facebook, and body image concern in adolescent girls. International Journal of Eating Disorders, 46(6), 630–633. https://doi.org/10.1002/eat.22141.
Valkenburg, P. M., & Peter, J. (2009). Social consequences of the internet for adolescents: A decade of research. Current Directions in Psychological Science, 18(1), 1–5. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-8721.2009.01595.x.
Williams, J., & MacKinnon, D. (2008). Resampling and distribution of the product methods for testing indirect effects in complex models. Structural Equation Modeling, 15, 23–51. https://doi.org/10.1080/107055107011758166.
Wolak, J., Mitchell, K. J., & Finkelhor, D. (2006). Online victimization of youth: Five years later. National Center for Missing & Exploited Children Bulletin - #07–06-025. Alexandria, VA. Retrieved from https://scholars.unh.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?referer=http://scholar.google.it/&httpsredir=1&article=1053&context=ccrc
Wolak, J., Finkelhor, D., Walsh, W., & Treitman, L. (2018). Sextortion of minors: Characteristics and dynamics. Journal of Adolescent Health, 62(1), 72–79. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jadohealth.2017.08.014.
Wurtele, S. K., & Miller-Perrin, C. (2014). Preventing technology initiated sexual victimization of youth: A developmental perspective. In M. C. Kenny (Ed.), Sex education: Attitude of adolescents, cultural differences and schools’ challenges (pp. 147–175). New York: Nova.
Ybarra, M. L., Mitchell, K. J., Finkelhor, D., & Wolak, J. (2007). Internet prevention messages: Targeting the right online behaviors. Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine, 161(2), 138–145. https://doi.org/10.1001/archpedi.161.2.138.
Zetterström Dahlqvist, H., & Gillander Gådin, K. (2018). Online sexual victimization in youth: Predictors and cross-sectional associations with depressive symptoms. European Journal of Public Health, 1–6. wolak. https://doi.org/10.1093/eurpub/cky102.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Ethics declarations
Conflict of Interest
The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.
Ethical Standards and Informed
Consent Ethical approval to conduct research was obtained from the University of Turin IRB (protocol no. 256071).
Additional information
Publisher’s Note
Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Longobardi, C., Fabris, M.A., Prino, L.E. et al. The Role of Body Image Concerns in Online Sexual Victimization among Female Adolescents: The Mediating Effect of Risky Online Behaviors. Journ Child Adol Trauma 14, 51–60 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40653-020-00301-5
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s40653-020-00301-5