Adolescents’ experience of offline and online risks: Separate and joint propensities

Adolescence is a period of increased risk experience and ever more often these occur online. The current study aims to investigate whether adolescents' online and offline risk experiences are driven by the same general propensity to risks. Data from a representative study of N = 19,406 (50% girls) internet-using 11-16 year olds (M = 13.54, SD = 1.68) youth in Europe were subjected to the current analyses. Three confirmatory factor analyses were applied to measures of offline and online risk experiences (five each). A bi-factor model of a general risk factor and two specific factors of online and offline risks was shown to provide the best theoretical and empirical fit. All risk experiences loaded significantly on the general risk factor while additionally all offline risks loaded significantly on the offline risk factor. However, none of the online risks loaded significantly on the online risk factor. Online risks could not be explained by factors that go beyond a general propensity to experience risks suggesting that new technologies do not bring with them a new type of risk propensity driven by that environment. Interventions should target risk and protective factors that can account for adolescents' experiences across risk types (online and offline)

Immaterial boys? A large-scale exploration of gender-based differences in child sexual exploitation service users

Child sexual exploitation is increasingly recognised nationally and internationally as a pressing child protection, crime prevention and public health issue. In the UK, for example, a recent series of high-profile cases has fuelled pressure on policy-makers and practitioners to improve responses. Yet, prevailing discourse, research and interventions around child sexual exploitation have focused overwhelmingly on female victims. This study was designed to help redress fundamental knowledge gaps around boys affected by sexual exploitation. This was achieved through rigorous quantitative analysis of individual-level data for 9,042 users of child sexual exploitation services in the UK. One third of the sample was male and gender was associated with statistically significant differences on many variables. The results of this exploratory study highlight the need for further targeted research and more nuanced and inclusive counter-strategies

A systematic review of fantasy driven vs. contact driven internet-initiated sexual offences: Discrete or overlapping typologies?

Data presented within this article supports the findings of the manuscript “A systematic review of fantasy driven vs contact driven internet-initiated sexual offences: Discrete or overlapping typologies?” (Broome et al., in press) [1]. Inclusion and Exclusion criteria of study selection, PICO Formulation of Study Appraisal, as well as the Study Characteristics and Methodology of included studies are presented