Mid Sweden University

Poor mental health in adolescent boys and girls has been linked to both in-person and online sexual harassment (SH), but studies have typically analyzed the association using a single measure. The aim of this study was to explore the associations of SH victimization using different measures and cut-off values for mental ill health among adolescents. The study used a cross-sectional design with data collected by a web-based questionnaire in 2012. Participants were 1,026 students in grades 7–9 in nine public and one independent school in Sweden. Data were analyzed with logistic regression models for the total sample and separately for girls and boys. In the total sample, all forms of victimization were significantly positively associated with all dependent variables of mental ill health irrespective of the cut-off values used. ORs ranged from 1.54 (95% CI: 1.14, 2.08) for low quality of life using a cut-off value of < 7 and SH victimization, to 5.12 [95% CI: 3.52, 7.46] for self-harm and SH and online unwanted sexual solicitation (USS) combined. Statistically significant associations were also found in the analyses stratified by gender, with a few exceptions. There were no consistent patterns in the differences between girls and boys. The results imply that questions about SH should be included in adolescent mental health research and can inform the choice of measures used to assess mental ill health. The consistent associations shown for SH victimization and mental ill health should be of interest for policy makers for adolescent health promotion.

Purpose: Several factors influence young people’s mental health, and exposure to bullying is a risk factor. Bullying and cyberbullying are strongly associated with loneliness, but little research has been conducted on this topic. This study aimed to explore the causes of bullying among young people and the protective mechanisms and preventive work that can promote well-being, as seen from young people’s perspectives. Methods: A qualitative exploratory design and content analysis were conducted. The interviews were conducted with 35 young people (aged 17–28 years). Results: Three main categories were identified: (1) causes of bullying, intervention, and mitigation; (2) protection against the harmful effects of bullying and loneliness; and (3) prevention and promotion of well-being as solutions. Nine subcategories were identified in this study. Discussion: Further research could explore interventions to prevent bullying in school settings, focusing on how bullying prevention programmes are implemented and how school staff and guardians perceive and work with bullying issues.

Background

Poor mental health has increased among adolescents in recent decades. Bullying and sexual harassment, both cyber and in-person, are each associated with increased depressive symptoms in adolescents and being victimised by co-occurring types is more common than just one single type of victimisation. The study aimedto investigate the association between co-occurring victimisation and depressive symptoms in adolescents when controlling for screen time, social support, physical activity, and personal relative affluence.

Method

Cross-sectional survey data from 1211 respondents (50.1% girls) aged 15–16 were used to conduct modified Poisson regression with robust error variance analyses for girls and boys separately. Four scales were used to measure cyber and in-person bullying and sexual harassment, and CESD-R10 was used to measure depressive symptoms.

Results

About 47% of girls and 20% of boys experienced all four types of victimisation, and about 12% of girls and 25% of boys experienced none of them. When controlled for all included variables, all number of victimisation types of bullying and/or sexual harassment were associated with depressive symptoms in girls. In comparison, only four types of victimisation were associated with depressive symptoms in boys.

Conclusions

The study showed that co-occurring victimisation was associated with depressive symptoms even after controlling for other relevant factors in both genders. However, in girls, all numbers of victimisation were associatedwith depressive symptoms.

BackgroundDistinct regional variations are observed in terms of factors influencing intimate partner violence (IPV) when women are empowered. This is a noticeable gap, and no comprehensive studies explore these influencing factors across different continents. Therefore, this study aimed to assess the relationship between women's empowerment, autonomy, and IPV across different continental regions.MethodThe Demographic and Health Survey (DHS) dataset across 26 countries with low and lower-middle-income countries was used in this study. We focused on a sample of 56,175 women aged 15-49 who had experienced IPV. For data analysis purposes, we have used the Chi-square test and binary logistic regression using Stata. We also account for complexities related to the survey and incorporate sampling weights.ResultsAmong 56,175 women from all six continents, 22,236 experienced IPV. IPV prevalence varies across regions, ranging from 12.81% in Cambodia [95% CI: 11.75%-13.92%] to 69.61% in Sierra Leone [95% CI: 66.93%-72.18%], with an overall prevalence of 39.46%. Empowered women demonstrated reduced odds of experiencing IPV, with notable protective effects in regions like Sub-Saharan Africa (e.g., Burundi: OR: 0.36, 95% CI: 0.29-0.44) and South and Southeast Asia (e.g., Cambodia: OR: 0.38, 95% CI: 0.30-0.50), However, exceptions such as Nigeria (OR: 1.53, 95% CI: 1.30-1.79) underscore regional disparities in the impact of empowerment.ConclusionsEmpowering women socially through employment opportunities and autonomy significantly reduces the prevalence of IPV. Notably, women living below the poverty line and with limited education face heightened vulnerability. It is crucial for policymakers, organizations, and communities to utilize these findings to create more comprehensive environments for working women.

Background: Self-harm is a major public health concern amongadolescents. Many predictors of self-harm have been identified,but studies examining the role of cyber victimisation, in particularcyber sexual harassment, need to be explored further. This studyaimed to investigate the extent to which cyberbullying and cybersexual harassment victimisation predict self-harm among 15-yearold adolescents.Design and methods: Cross-sectional survey data from 1211 9thgrade Swedish pupils (response rate 81%, 50.1% girls, mean age15.2) were used to conduct hierarchical multiple regression analysesseparately for girls and boys. Self-harm was the outcome measuredby four items indicating deliberately inflicted harm in the lastsix months.Results: Both cyberbullying and cyber sexual harassment victimisation significantly predicted self-harm in adolescent girls (b ¼ 0.42, p< .001; b ¼ 0.511, p < .001) and boys (b ¼ 0.288, p < .001;b ¼ 0.315, p < .001). Cyber sexual harassment victimisation had astronger impact on self-harm than cyberbullying for both girls andboys. The cyber victimisation measures explained a greater proportion of the variance in self-harm among girls (Adjusted R2 0.339 and0.401, respectively) compared to boys (Adjusted R2 0.237 and 0.252,respectively). Family support consistently emerged as a significantprotective predictor of self-harm in both genders.Conclusions: Both cyberbullying and cyber sexual harassment victimisation predicted self-harm in adolescent girls and boys, butcyber sexual harassment was a stronger predictor for both genders.Gender differences were evident: the cyber victimisation measureswere stronger predictors and explained a more significant proportion of the variance in self-harm for girls. These findings highlightthe importance of considering multiple forms of cyber victimisationto better understand self-harm predictors among 15-year-olds.Key messages:• Both cyberbullying and cyber sexual harassment victimisation areimportant predictors of self-harm in adolescent girls and boys.• Cyber sexual harassment was a stronger predictor for self-harmthan cyberbullying for both genders in this analysis.

Bakgrund: Subjektiva hälsobesvär (SHB) är ett folkhälsoproblem som är vanligt förekommande bland ungdomar och som har ökat i Sverige under de senaste decennierna. Även om många faktorer som bidrar till SHB har identifierats, finns det fortfarande få studier som undersöker cyberutsatthet. Denna studie syftade till att undersöka i vilken utsträckning nätmobbning och sexuella trakasserier på nätet förutsäger SHB bland 15-åriga ungdomar, samt hur tre olika dimensioner av sexuella trakasserier på nätet förutsäger SHB.

Metod: Tvärsnittsdata från en enkätstudie med 1211 svarande (svarsfrekvens 81 %, 50,1 % flickor), med medelåldern 15,2 år användes för att genomföra hierarkiska multipla regressioner separat för flickor och pojkar. Subjektiva hälsobesvär mättes med HBSC-symtomlista (Health Behaviour in School-aged Children). 

Resultat: Både nätmobbning och sexuella trakasserier på nätet förutsade SHB hos tonårsflickor och tonårspojkar. De sexualiserade formerna av trakasserier på nätet var starkare prediktorer av subjektiva hälsobesvär för flickor än för pojkar, medan nätmobbning hade en starkare koppling till SHB hos pojkar. Bland de tre dimensionerna av sexuella trakasserier på nätet var oombedd sexting den starkaste prediktorn för flickor, följt av nedsättande tillmälen. Hos pojkar var dessa två dimensioner ungefär lika starka, men svagare än vad som observerades för flickor. Exploatering visade sig vara den svagaste prediktorn bland de tre, för båda könen.

Slutsatser: Både nätmobbning och sexuella trakasserier på nätet förutsade subjektiva hälsobesvär hos tonårsflickor och pojkar. De sexualiserade formerna av cyberutsatthet var starkare prediktorer för flickor än pojkar, medan nätmobbning var en starkare prediktor för pojkar. Resultaten understryker vikten av att inkludera cyberutsatthet i förståelsen av vad bidrar till SHB hos 15-åringar.

Peer victimization is a common and complex issue among young people worldwide and is affecting mental health development during a critical developmental period in their lives. By means of a Latent Class Analysis (LCA), this study explores peer poly-victimization subgroups among adolescents and their association with psychosomatic symptoms. A sample of 1536 Swedish students in grades 7–9 completed an electronic questionnaire on various types of victimization over the past six months, including physical violence, as well as in-person and cyber sexual harassment and bullying. The LCA identified three subgroups for boys and four for girls, revealing a gendered pattern of victimization, especially in the case of sexualized violence, which was more prevalent among girls. In girls, this type of violence also increased with age. Victimization was strongly associated with psychosomatic symptoms across genders, with sexualized violence having more severe health consequences. The findings emphasize the need for preventive programs that avoids siloed interventions and instead targets multiple forms of violence, including online harassment, to promote adolescent mental health.

Pornografikonsumtion bland unga killar har ett samband med psykisk ohälsa. Syftet med denna studie är att undersöka samband mellan pornografikonsumtion och olika psykosociala faktorer. Bland de oberoende variablerna inkluderas, samt cyber- och fysisk sexuellt och mobbningsrelaterat förövarbeteende. Vidare analyseras socialt stöd, ensamhet, depressiva symtom, ångest, psykosomatiska besvär,  fritidsaktiviteter (gaming, fysisk aktivitet), samt skolrelaterade variabler såsom skolfrånvaro/skolk. Data analyseras med logistisk regression för att identifiera potentiella risk- och skyddsfaktorer för pornografikonsumtion bland unga killar. Resultaten förväntas ge en djupare förståelse för hur olika sociala och individuella faktorer samspelar i unga killars konsumtion av pornografi och därigenom bidra till framtida preventiva insatser

The prevalence of sexting and dissemination of explicit sexual images (ESI) among teenagers has risen with mobile technology. Social media platforms amplify these practices, perpetuating problematic usage patterns. This study explores the understanding of how young people perceive thes enders and receivers of unsolicited dick pics, focusing on gender construction. Ten semi-structured group interviews with cisgendered girls and boys aged 12–16 were conducted and analysed thematically. The findings show that boys are the primary senders of dick pics, while girls are primarily on the receiving end, with boys and girls interpreting unsolicited dick pics differently. Girls more often viewed such behaviour as romantic, while only boys recognized it as harassment. This disparity emphasizes the need for internet safety education and interventions to challenge mainstream constructions of gender norms. By addressing these issues, educators and caregivers can better support adolescents in navigating the complexities of online interactions and promoting healthy relationships.