Technology-facilitated sexual violence among Italian youths: validation of the technology-facilitated sexual violence victimization scale

Orsolini L., Yılmaz Karaman İ. G., Selvi K., Reina S., Longo G., Volpe U.

FRONTIERS IN PSYCHIATRY, cilt.15, ss.1-11, 2024 (SCI-Expanded)

  • Yayın Türü: Makale / Tam Makale
  • Cilt numarası: 15
  • Basım Tarihi: 2024
  • Doi Numarası: 10.3389/fpsyt.2024.1449183
  • Dergi Adı: FRONTIERS IN PSYCHIATRY
  • Derginin Tarandığı İndeksler: Science Citation Index Expanded (SCI-EXPANDED), Social Sciences Citation Index (SSCI), Scopus, EMBASE, Psycinfo, Directory of Open Access Journals
  • Sayfa Sayıları: ss.1-11
  • Eskişehir Osmangazi Üniversitesi Adresli: Evet

Özet

Introduction: Technology-facilitated sexual violence (TFSV), i.e. the use of digital communication technologies for facilitating sexual violence and harassment, represents a concern due to its exponential growth, particularly among youths. Few studies investigated TFSV, mainly due to the lack of a validated assessment tool, such as the TFSV-Victimization scale (TFSV-VS). Our study aimed to investigate the TFSV phenomenon in a sample of Italian young adults (aged 18-24), through the validation of the Italian translated version of TFSV-VS.

Methods: The study consisted of two phases: 1) validation of the Italian version of TFSV-VS; b) evaluation of TFSV lifetime and during the last 12 months among Italian youths.

Results: In our sample, 78.6% and 56.1% of subjects reported a lifetime and 12-months TFSV victimization, respectively. Digital sexual (70.4% and 46.6%), gender and/or sexuality-based harassment (43% and 29.6%) are those most represented. A gendered and sexuality-based pattern in lifetime TFSV was observed, mainly observed among females (p=0.005) and sexual/gender minority (SGM)(p=0.001). Being female (p<0.001) and perceiving low social support (p = 0.030) were associated with higher subjective distress related to traumatic TFSV experiences. Being female (p<0.001), younger (p=0.006) and perceiving low social support (p=0.030) were associated with the highest psychological distress due to TFSV.

Conclusions: Italian TFSV-VS shows good psychometric properties. Our findings observed a gendered trend of TFSV, by suggesting TFSV as a phenomenon influenced by SGM belonging.