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Teen Girls Suffer from Digital Dating Abuse

*The following is excerpted from an online article posted on PsychCentral.

Researchers at the University of Michigan and University of California-Santa Barbara have found teens experience digital dating abuse at similar rates, but girls reported that they were more upset by these behaviors and reported more negative emotional responses.

Digital dating abuse behaviors include the use of cell phones or the internet to harass, control, pressure, or threaten a dating partner.

“Although digital dating abuse is potentially harmful for all youth, gender matters,” said Dr. Lauren Reed, the study’s lead author and an assistant project scientist at University of California-Santa Barbara.

The study, which will appear in the Journal of Adolescence, involved 703 Midwest high school students who reported the frequency of digital dating abuse, if they were upset by the “most recent” incidents, and how they responded.

Students completed the surveys between December 2013 and March 2014.

Participants reported sending and receiving at least 51 text messages per day, and spending an average of 22 hours per week using social media. Most participants reported that they text/texted their current or most recent dating partner frequently.

The survey asked teens to indicate how often they experienced problematic digital behaviors with a dating partner.

Concerns include being “pressured me to sext” (sending a sexual or naked photo), being sent a threatening message, having private information assessed without permission, and having their whereabouts and activities monitored.

Girls indicated more frequent digital sexual coercion victimization, and girls and boys reported equal rates of digital monitoring and control, and digital direct aggression.

When confronted with direct aggression, such as threats and rumor spreading, girls responded by blocking communication with their partner.

Boys responded in similar fashion when they experienced digital monitoring and control behaviors, the study showed.

Source: PsychCentral
https://psychcentral.com/news/2017/06/28/teens-girls-suffer-from-digital-dating-abuse/122538.html