Associations between online sexual solicitation and depressive symptomatology

Ybarra, Michele & Leaf, Philip. (2003, November).  Associations between online sexual solicitation and depressive symptomatology. Presented at the American Public Health Association 131th Annual Meeting, San Francisco, CA.

Summary:

This presentation uses data from the Youth Internet Safety Survey to explore the hypothesis that depressive symptomatology will be linked to increased likelihood for Internet sexual solicitation. Three main types of unwanted sexual solicitation are discussed: requests for sexual information, sexual talk, and sexual acts.

Findings:

- Results suggest a cross-sectional relationship between self-reported depressive symptomatology and increased odds of unwanted sexual solicitation online.

- Understanding the complex interaction between mental health and online interactions, especially the influence of malleable characteristics such as depressive symptomatology and Internet usage, is an important area of emerging research.

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