This is the summary of an article by Michele Ybarra, et al. You can get the pdf of the behavioral targeting article here: Internet Prevention Messages: Targeting the Right Online Behaviors.
The Internet is a place for 9 percent of online youth being harrassed which could lead to emotional distress and other psychosocial problems. Advocates have called for the youth to stop sending out personal information about themselves online, and refrain from talking to strangers. While it seems logical to do so, there is little evidence to either support or refute this claim.
This study investigates 5 online behaviors: downloading images through file-sharing, sexual behavior, talking to online strangers, aggressive behavior, and sharing of personal information. Four questions will be asked. First, What are the prevalence rates and characteristics of online behaviors commonly referred to as “risky”? Second, Are behaviors targeted in Internet safety and prevention messages associated with increased likelihood of online interpersonal victimization? Thirds, Do psychosocial and personal behavior problems account for these associations? Fourth, does the total number of online behaviors engaged in affect the association between specific behaviors and victimization online?
Methods
The survey was conducted by telephone towards 1500 youth in what was called the Second Youth Internet Safety Survey on June 11, 2005. English speaking youth who used the Internet during the past 6 months on a monthly basis were allowed to do the survey. The makeup of the respondents correspond to the Internet population on a national survey level.
The respondents were asked how often they performed one of 9 online behaviors that are said to make one prone to online victimization. These behaviors were determined through messages about Internet safety and documents regarding youth victimization online. One example is sexual behavior, which are divided into two types: that which involves someone you don’t know talking to you about sexual matters and intently entering an x-rated website.
Online Interpersonal Victimization
When people are harrassed online in a sexual manner, that’s called online interpersonal victimization. The respondents are asked three questions to determine whether they have been baited into talking about sexual matters. They were also asked if they had any online relationship and whether it turned sexual in any way. Aside from that, harrassment was asked to find out whether the Internet was used against them for harrassment. Bivariate analyses was done to determine how harassment, unwanted sexual allurement and online behaviors were related to each other.
Psychosocial and Behavioral Problems
Questions from the Juvenile Victimization Questionnaire were used to ask the respondents if they have been abused physically or sexually during the year prior. In addition, the Youth Self-report of the Child Behavior Checklist was used to assess child emotional and behavioral problems.
Internet Use and Demographics
The youth were asked to estimate how much time they spent online in terms of number of hours in a day and days in a week. They were also asked to assess how well they are familiar with using the Internet and how important the Internet is to them. They also answered questions regarding chat rooms, instant messaging, and blogging.
Results
The results show that 20 percent of youth mentioned they have experienced online interpersonal victimization during the previous year. Three fourths of the respondents said they experienced at least one of the online behaviors linked with increased victimization. Most common was posting personal information online and least common was talking to online strangers.
All of the nine online behaviors are found to have a significant relationship with online interpersonal victimiation. The behaviors which have the strongest association are talking about sex with a person you only know online, meeting online people, and embarrassing someone deliberately.
Commonplace Risky Online Behaviors
A lot of online behaviors are becoming commonplace, such as posting personal online information. More than 30 percent of youth have friends they don’t really know in person. It is important to recognize the risky online environment that our youth are immersed in and find ways to reduce these risks.
Meeting people online is rightfully considered as a behavior that may heighten Internet harassment. On the other hand, sharing of personal information should be given more consideration. It is also found that youth that exhibit four or more kinds of risky online behaviors are more than a tenfold times likely to be victims. Health professionals and child experts should collaborate with parents to assess the behavior of their children online.
