In another mark of the increasingly digital life of teenagers, more than 25 percent of those who dated said their love interests threatened or harassed them online or using texts, according to a new study.
Teenagers reported that their social networking accounts were hacked without permission, that they were texted about unwanted sex and that they were pressured to send sexual or naked photos of themselves.
In the study, published online Wednesday in the Journal of Youth and Adolescence, researchers concluded that digital technology was not the cause of abuse by teens in a relationship, but it provided a 24/7 platform for abuse, often outside the view of adults.
The study was based on survey responses from 5,647 students in 10 middle and high schools in New Jersey, New York and Pennsylvania. Nearly two-thirds of the students said they had a current romantic partner or had one during the previous year.
Most of the digital abuse or harassment from dating partners did not happen during school hours. 17 per cent took place on school grounds, but it could have been at the dance or the football game. Some was highly public, too.
Nearly 6 percent of teenagers said their partners had posted embarrassing photos of them online, and 5 percent reported their partners wrote “nasty” comments about them on the partner’s profile page.
In the study, co-authored by Meredith Dank, students reported that digital abuse was not experienced in isolation. More than 80 per cent also reported psychological abuse, which included limiting someone’s contacts with family or friends, damaging property, insisting on knowing where they are and insulting them publicly.