Large-scale study on sexting and cyber dating abuse among sexual minority youth and adolescents of different age groups.

This study is an extension of my postdoctoral project and aims to investigate two digital public health risks for youth: 1) cyber dating abuse and 2) sexting. Cyber dating abuse is the controlling, stalking and harassing of a romantic partner through digital media. Sexting is the exchange of sexually explicit pictures. Large scale survey research is needed to gain a better theoretical understanding of these behaviors. For this project we will conduct a large-scale qualitative and quantitative study on cyber dating abuse and sexting. The data provide invaluable insights for the prevention of these digital forms of violence among sexual minority youth and for the development of age-appropriate educational efforts.

Keywords:MEDIA

Disciplines:Interpersonal communication, Science and health communication