Online Victimization and Happiness: Findings from a National Internet-based ISRD4 sample of 15-to-18 year olds

• In Event: ISRD Panel 5: Internet surveys of adolescent delinquency and victimization: Methodological and Substantive Findings from the International Self-Report Delinquency Project (ISRD4)

Abstract

There is a large body of research on the link between victimization and poor mental health. Because of the growing importance of internet use, especially among adolescents, this interest has now expanded to include the correlation between internet use, online victimization, and mental health. This paper uses the results of the internet-based sample of 15-to-18-year-olds (n = 4,092), collected as part of the ISRD4 data collection in the US, to explore the relationship between online victimization and one measure of mental health: happiness.
This analysis examines happiness using a single-item measure adapted from the Andrews and Withey's (2012) Faces Scale. In general, respondents from the online sample are more happy than unhappy, approximately 81% of youth in our sample report being mostly happy over the last six months. The primary exogenous measure of online victimization includes youth who report experiencing online harassment and/or have had intimate photos or videos shared without their consent. Results from an ordinary least squares regression analysis demonstrate that there is a significant relationship between online victimization and happiness. Net of controls, experiencing online harassment and/or having intimate media shared without permission corresponds to a decrease in happiness.

Authors

• Mikaela Sky Nielsen, University of California, Irvine

• Ineke Haen Marshall, Northeastern University

• Michael Gottfredson, University of California, Irvine