A Preventive Intervention to Reduce Risk of Online Grooming Among Adolescents

  1. Esther Calvete 1
  2. Izaskun Orue 1
  3. Manuel Gámez-Guadi 2
  1. 1 Universidad de Deusto
    info

    Universidad de Deusto

    Bilbao, España

    ROR https://ror.org/00ne6sr39

  2. 2 Universidad Autónoma de Madrid
    info

    Universidad Autónoma de Madrid

    Madrid, España

    ROR https://ror.org/01cby8j38

Revista:
Psychosocial Intervention

ISSN: 1132-0559

Año de publicación: 2022

Volumen: 31

Número: 3

Páginas: 177-184

Tipo: Artículo

DOI: 10.5093/PI2022A14 DIALNET GOOGLE SCHOLAR lock_openAcceso abierto editor

Otras publicaciones en: Psychosocial Intervention

Resumen

Sexual abuse of adolescents by adults on the Internet is a severe risk with negative consequences for the victims. However, there is an important gap in the development of preventive interventions to address this problem. This study evaluated the efficacy of a brief (less than one hour) educational intervention on online grooming (less than one hour) in reducing adolescents’ sexual interaction behaviors with adults when they are sexually solicited. A sample of 856 Spanish adolescents (48% girls, ages 11-17 years) was randomized into two intervention conditions (educational intervention about online grooming and a resilience control intervention). Adolescents completed measures of online sexual solicitation by adults and sexualized interactions with adults at pretest and at three- and six-month follow-ups. Measures of their knowledge about online grooming were taken at pretest, postintervention, and at three- and six-month follow-ups. The results of multilevel analyses indicated that the intervention reduced sexualized interactions when adolescents were sexually solicited by adults (β = -.16, SD = .07, t = -2.44, p = .015). Moreover, the intervention increased adolescents’ knowledge about online grooming over time (β = 1.95, SD = .19, t = 10.52, p < .001). These findings suggest that a brief educational intervention about online grooming may be a promising, low-cost intervention to reduce the risks of sexual abuse on the Internet.

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Fuente de los datos: Dialnet