Online Image-based Victimization, Gender Inequality Index, and Violence against Women across 31 Countries

• In Event: Poster Session

Abstract

The present study aimed to contribute to the scant literature on the gendered nature of online image-based victimization among youths. We used data from the 2013-2014 Health Behavior in School-Aged Children (HBSC) survey conducted in 43 countries. Due to absence of key variables, data from 12 of these countries could not be used. Thus, our analytic sample consisted of 152,884 students within 5,219 schools from 31 countries. We first examined the relationships between lifestyle-routine activities, target congruence theory, and image-based victimization with individual level predictors. Specifically, we estimated multi-level models that allow our data to be modeled at the individual level which is nested within schools and then nested within countries. Next, we estimated the effects of country-level correlates such as Gender Inequality Index (GII) and Violence against Women Index (VAWI) on the country-level odds of victimization. There were both differences and similarities regarding gender-based estimations of our models. We also found differences among the effects of country-level predictors.

Authors

• Rustu Deryol, University of South Florida

• Rachel L. McNealey, Penn State University

• Pamela Wilcox, Pennsylvania State University