TY  - JOUR
PY  - 2022//
TI  - Associations between online communication with strangers and mild delinquency in junior high school students
JO  - Current psychology
A1  - Obokata, Akiko
A1  - Pauen, Sabina
SP  - ePub
EP  - ePub
VL  - ePub
IS  - ePub
N2  - Today, adolescents can easily make contact with strangers online. The present study examines the relation of online communication with strangers (OCS) and mild delinquency among junior high school students and explores which risk factors are associated with both types of behavior, taking gender differences into account. A total of 1873 Japanese adolescents (aged 12-15) with mobile phones completed online questionnaires assessing internet usage (duration, variability), parental behavior (violence, monitoring), and adolescent characteristics (depression, self-control) as potential predictors of OCS and mild delinquency. Sequential model testing revealed that the duration of internet usage was associated with both dependent variables, whereas its variability was associated with OCS alone. Self-control and parental violence predicted both outcome variables in girls, but only mild delinquency in boys. Depression was related with both behaviors in boys. Parental monitoring was negatively associated with OCS among girls and with mild delinquency among boys. Overall, OCS appeared to have a similar function for girls as mild delinquency did for boys. Implications for future studies and preventive programs will be discussed.<p />  <p>Language: en</p>
LA  - en
SN  - 1046-1310
UR  - http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s12144-022-03317-2
ID  - ref1
ER  -