TY - JOUR PY - 2021// TI - Homophobia is online: sexual victimization and risks on the internet and mental health among bisexual, homosexual, pansexual, asexual, and queer adolescents JO - Computers in human behavior A1 - Gámez-Guadix, Manuel A1 - Incera, Daniel SP - e106728 EP - e106728 VL - 119 IS - N2 - The first aim of this study was to analyze the prevalence and frequency of different forms of online sexual victimization and risks among sexual minorities, including sexting, sexual orientation- and gender-based victimization, unwanted sexual attention, sextortion, and revenge porn. The second aim was to examine whether online sexual victimization and risks mediate the relationship between being a sexual minority and mental health outcomes, including depression and anxiety. The sample was composed of 1779 adolescents (50.9% girls) between 12 and 18 years old (mean age = 13.92, SD = 1.27), and 146 of them (8.2%) were sexual minorities (specifically, bisexual, homosexual, pansexual, asexual, or queer adolescents). About 17.3% of sexual minority adolescents have sent a sext. Four out of ten adolescents (41.1%) had experienced online sexual orientation discrimination and 28.4% gender-based victimization. More than forty percent (45.2%) experienced unwanted sexual attention, 9% were victims of sextortion, and 5.5% had been targets of revenge porn. Sexting, online sexual orientation victimization and gender-based victimization, and unwanted sexual attention partially mediated the relationship between being a sexual minority and mental health outcomes (i.e., depression and anxiety). More prevention programs aimed to reduce online sexual victimization and risks for sexual minorities are needed.

Language: en

LA - en SN - 0747-5632 UR - http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.chb.2021.106728 ID - ref1 ER -