Review articleThe Prevalence of Unwanted Online Sexual Exposure and Solicitation Among Youth: A Meta-Analysis☆
Section snippets
Definitional criteria
There is a notable absence of gold standard definitional criteria in research investigating online encounters of a sexual nature among youth. The current study adopted the definitional elements provided by researchers at the Crimes Against Children Research Center [32], who define unwanted online exposure as exposure to sexually explicit pictures and/or videos via pop-up windows, spam e-mails, Web site links, etc., without seeking or expecting sexual material. We also include accidental
Results
The Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses flow diagram [37] detailing the search strategy and resulting outcome can be found in Figure 1. The initial search strategy yielded 1,031 titles/abstracts, and 28 records were identified through other sources including citations in other articles and online reports. Following the removal of duplicate records, 930 titles/abstracts were screened with the predetermined inclusion criteria. A total of 101 publications were
Discussion
The Internet is arguably one of the most impressive technological advancements of our time. Use of the Internet among youth in the developed world is near universal (9.5 out of 10 adolescents use the Internet), and for many, it serves as an invaluable tool to work, play, learn, and communicate [51]. Unfortunately, the Internet can also pose threats to youth in the form of online sexual solicitations and unwanted exposure to sexual content online. The current set of meta-analyses sought to
Funding Sources
Research support was provided to the first author by the Alberta Children's Hospital Foundation and the Canada Research Chairs program. These funders had no involvement in (1) study design; (2) the collection, analysis, and interpretation of data; (3) the writing of the report; or (4) the decision to submit the manuscript for publication.
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Conflicts of Interest: The authors have no conflicts of interest relevant to this article to disclose.
Financial Disclosures: The authors have no financial relationships relevant to this article to disclose.
Contributors’ Statement: Dr. Madigan conceptualized and designed the study, drafted the initial manuscript, carried out the analyses, and approved the final manuscript as submitted.