Academic Edi o : Heng Choon
Oli e Chan
Recei ed: 13 May 2025
Re ised: 8 July 2025
Accep ed: 10 July 2025
Published: 17 July 2025
Ci a ion: Du án-Gue e o, E.,
Nocen ini, A., Menesini, E., &
Sánchez-Jiménez, V. (2025). Online
Sexual Ha assmen Pe pe a ion
Among Pee Adolescen s: A
C oss-Na ional and C oss-Gende
S udy. Beha io al Sciences,15(7), 969.
h ps://doi.o g/10.3390/
bs15070969
Copy igh : © 2025 by he au ho s.
Licensee MDPI, Basel, Swi ze land.
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A ibu ion (CC BY) license
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A icle
Online Sexual Ha assmen Pe pe a ion Among Pee
Adolescen s: A C oss-Na ional and C oss-Gende S udy
Es ella Du án-Gue e o 1, Annalau a Nocen ini 2, E silia Menesini 2and Vi ginia Sánchez-Jiménez 1,*
1Depa men o De elopmen al and Educa ional Psychology, Uni e sidad de Se illa, 41013 Se illa, Spain;
[email p o ec ed]
2Depa men o Educa ion, Languages, In e cul u es, Li e a u es and Psychology, Uni e si àdegli S udi di
Fi enze, 50135 Flo ence, I aly; [email p o ec ed] (A.N.); [email p o ec ed] (E.M.)
*Co espondence: [email p o ec ed]
Abs ac
This s udy aims o alida e he Online Sexual Ha assmen Pe pe a ion among Pee s (OSHP-
P) ins umen o assessing online sexual ha assmen among adolescen s in wo di e en
coun ies, Spain and I aly, conside ing bo h new o ms o online sexual ha assmen and
gende di e ences. The ins umen was alida ed by means o a Con i ma o y Fac o
Analysis (CFA) wi h a sample o 1041 Spanish (M
age
= 15.0, SD = 0.88) and 1385 I alian
(M
age
= 14.8, SD = 0.87) adolescen s, demons a ing ac o ial in a iance ac oss bo h coun y
and gende . The bes - i ing model was wo-dimensional, wi h ambiguous and di ec
Sexual Cybe Pe pe a ion (SCP) and Non-Consensual Sha ing Pe pe a ion (NCSP) ac o s.
Co-in ol emen (i.e., in ol emen in bo h ypes o agg ession) a es we e 10.3% in Spain
and 7.8% in I aly. No signi ican gende di e ences we e ound o in ol emen in ei he
he o e all scale (46.4% o gi ls, 44.1% o boys) o he NCSP subscale (3.0% gi ls s. 2.2%
boys), al hough signi ican ly highe co-in ol emen was ound among boys (7.7% gi ls
s. 10.1% boys). This s udy con ibu es o he exis ing body o esea ch on online sexual
ha assmen among pee s in adolescence by p esen ing a new assessmen ool ha has been
shown o be in a ian be ween Spanish and I alian adolescen s, as well as be ween boys
and gi ls.
Keywo ds: online sexual ha assmen ; pe pe a ion; adolescence; c oss-na ional s udy;
c oss-gende s udy; non-consensual sha ing o sexual con en
1. In oduc ion
Du ing adolescence, bo h boys and gi ls a e aced wi h he de elopmen al ask o
building and de eloping hei sexual iden i y. Th ough in e ac ion wi h hei pee s, ado-
lescen s lea n abou and disco e he limi s o hei beha iou s and explo e hei sexual
in e es s and as es (Fu man & Rose,2015). Wi hin hese dynamics, social ne wo king
si es ha e eme ged as signi ican allies, enhancing communica ion and li a ion among
pee s, along wi h he exchange o sexual con en and sel -explo a ion (Mo i e al.,2022).
The accessibili y and pe cei ed anonymi y inhe en o digi al con ex s o e adolescen s
an appa en ly ‘sa e’ en i onmen in which o exp ess and explo e hei sexuali y (Van
Ouy sel e al.,2019). Howe e , his anonymi y may also be used o pe pe a e agg essi e
beha iou (Ma inoni e al.,2024), including sexual beha iou s ha can lead o online sexual
ha assmen (Madigan e al.,2018).
In he p esen s udy, online sexual ha assmen among adolescen s is de ined as any
sexual a en ion o beha iou , engaged in using elec onic de ices, which is non-consensual
Beha . Sci. 2025,15, 969 h ps://doi.o g/10.3390/bs15070969
Beha . Sci. 2025,15, 969 2 o 16
and unwan ed by he ic im, he eby causing dis ess o discom o (Wo sley & Ca e ,
2021). Such beha iou is a global conce n, wi h p e alence a es o pe pe a ion anging
om 2.7% o 70% (Pa el & Roesch,2022;Penado e al.,2019). This high le el o a iabili y
in p e alence a es is p ima ily a ibu ed o he wide ange o di e en ways in which he
phenomenon is de ined and ope a ionalised (i.e., he dimensions and o ms o agg ession
conside ed) in scien i ic s udies (F anceschi e al.,2023;Pa el & Roesch,2022). Indeed,
al hough he li e a u e conclusi ely s a es ha online sexual ha assmen is a mul idimen-
sional phenomenon ha encompasses se e al in e ela ed o ms o agg ession, he e is no
single model ha encapsula es all o i s speci ic mani es a ions (Ba ak,2005;Fi zge ald
e al.,1995;Hen y & Powell,2018).
1.1. The Concep ualisa ion o Online Sexual Ha assmen
Ini ial concep ualisa ions o online sexual ha assmen we e models de i ed om
hose ha had been de eloped o ace- o- ace sexual iolence, such as he one p oposed
by Fi zge ald e al. (1995), who di e en ia ed be ween he ollowing h ee main o ms:
gende -based ha assmen , sexual coe cion, and unwan ed sexual eques s. D awing on
his model, Ba ak (2005), o ins ance, emphasised he in luence o he online con ex on
online sexual assaul s, di e en ia ing be ween di ec and passi e o ms. Whe eas di ec
assaul s a ge a speci ic ic im, he synch onici y and de achmen o online en i onmen s
also encou age assaul s ha lack any immedia e o explici a ge , in lic ing ha m in a mo e
indi ec o ambiguous (passi e) ashion. Con e sely, McGlynn and Rackley (2017) a gued
o he impo ance o explo ing new o ms o sexual iolence ha a e speci ic o he online
con ex unde he label image-based sexual abuse (IBSA). In his case, he au ho s sough
o ocus a en ion on he agg essi e na u e o such conduc , ad oca ing o he label as
a eplacemen o e enge po n. The e m encompasses he non-consensual dis ibu ion
and c ea ion o p i a e sexual images, sex o ion, online oyeu ism, and ‘non-consensually
c ea ed sexual images in ol ing he eco ding o apes o o he o ms o sexual assaul ’
(McGlynn & Rackley,2017, p. 439). Mo e ecen ly, Hen y and Powell (2018) in oduced he
e m ‘ echnology- acili a ed sexual iolence’ (TFSV) o emphasise he di e en beha iou s
ha could be ca ied ou hanks o he use o echnology. The au ho s di e en ia e be ween
‘online/digi al sexual ha assmen , gende - and sexuali y-based ha assmen , cybe s alking,
image-based sexual exploi a ion, and he use o a ca iage se ice o pe pe a e a sexual
assaul o coe ce an unwan ed sexual expe ience’ (Hen y & Powell,2018, p. 196).
1.2. Gaps in he Model
The a o emen ioned concep ualisa ions o sexual ha assmen a e s ill eme ging and
ha e some limi a ions ha a e wo h men ioning. Fi s , some models desc ibe ypes o
sexual iolence ha ha e been di ec ly ansposed om he ace- o- ace con ex o he
online one (Wal e s & Espelage,2020), wi hou conside ing he speci ic ways in which he
online con ex os e s he de elopmen o new o ms o ha assmen (Ba ak,2005). Second,
e en hough some cu en models do indeed conside hese new o ms, s udies end o
ocus solely on a ew mani es a ions (McGlynn & Rackley,2017), o e looking o he s ha a e
highly ele an du ing adolescence such as hose associa ed wi h gende o sexual di e si y
(Espelage e al.,2022). Mo eo e , mos s udies ocus on adul popula ions (Hen y & Powell,
2018), desc ibing dimensions (e.g., ‘ he use o a ca iage se ice o pe pe a e a sexual
assaul o coe ce an unwan ed sexual expe ience’) ha a e no pa icula ly ep esen a i e
o he adolescen popula ion.
This a iabili y in he concep ualisa ion o di e en ypes o online sexual ha ass-
men is u he compounded by he sca ci y o alida ed ins umen s. Exis ing measu es
ocus p ima ily on online sexual ic imisa ion, wi h ew ins umen s o da e analysing
Beha . Sci. 2025,15, 969 3 o 16
pe pe a ion among adolescen s (F anceschi e al.,2023). Following Ba ak’s (2005) model,
Sánchez-Jiménez e al. (2017) adap ed he measu e de eloped by he Ame ican Associ-
a ion o Uni e si y Women (2001), alida ing he ins umen wi h a sample o Spanish
adolescen s using bo h explo a o y ac o analysis (EFA) and con i ma o y ac o analy-
sis (CFA) and demons a ing ac o ial in a iance ac oss gende . Two dimensions we e
iden i ied, di ec and passi e agg ession, al hough due o he high le el o co ela ion be-
ween hem, he au ho s ecommended hey be amalgama ed in o a single dimension scale.
Gámez-Guadix and Ince a (2021) alida ed some o he dimensions p oposed in he model
de eloped by Hen y and Powell (2018) o online sexual ha assmen ic imisa ion among
adolescen s using an EFA. Howe e , in his case hese dimensions we e no con i med by a
CFA, and he co ela ions be ween he la en ac o s we e no indica ed (F anceschi e al.,
2023). In a subsequen s udy using ne wo k analysis (Gámez-Guadix e al.,2022b), he
au ho s con i med an o e lap be ween di e en o ms, wi h gende - and sexuali y-based
ic imisa ion o ming a clus e wi h digi al sexual ha assmen ic imisa ion, and sex o ion
and non-consensual po nog aphy o ming a second clus e . These s udies highligh wo
impo an ideas. Fi s , hey indica e ha du ing adolescence di e en o ms o sexual
ha assmen co ela e s ongly wi h each o he . And second, hey sugges ha gende - and
sexuali y-based sexual ha assmen and o he di ec e bal o ms di e om mo e se e e
o ms, such as sexual h ea s and he non-consensual dis ibu ion o sexual con en , a leas
in e ms o ic imisa ion.
In his ega d, a me a-analysis by Pa el and Roesch (2022) ound ha he dis ibu ion o
o wa ding o unwan ed and non-consensual sexual con en was one o he mos p e alen
new o ms o adolescen online sexual ha assmen . Non-consensual sha ing o sexual
con en (NCS; Walke e al.,2021) e e s o all messages, images, and ideos o a sexual
na u e ha a e sen o ano he pe son wi hou he ic im’s consen (Walke & Slea h,2017),
wi h ecen me a-analyses indica ing a p e alence o 14.5% (Mo i e al.,2022). The li e a u e
on he phenomenon has g adually inc eased o e ecen yea s, wi h s udies using di e en
labels such as non-consensual sex ing/po nog aphy, e enge po n, o non-consensual
o wa ding sex s (Ba oso e al.,2023;Gámez-Guadix e al.,2022b;Madigan e al.,2018;
Maes e al.,2023). Measu emen o his phenomenon is also con o e sial, and, o da e, ew
s udies ha e analysed i s ela ionship wi h o he o ms o online sexual ha assmen du ing
adolescence (Gámez-Guadix e al.,2022a).
In ligh o he abo e, i is impo an o analyse NCS wi hin he cons uc o online
sexual ha assmen . This would enable NCS (as a speci ic o m o online sexual ha assmen )
o be compa ed wi h adi ionally s udied o ms and would p omo e he analysis o i s
p e alence among adolescen s a an in e na ional le el.
1.3. C oss-Na ional Conside a ions
Online sexual ha assmen has a ac ed inc easing a en ion in Eu ope o e ecen
yea s, as e idenced by a ecen sys ema ic e iew o 32 Eu opean s udies on he phe-
nomenon (F anceschi e al.,2023). Howe e , he majo i y o hese s udies ocus on ic imi-
sa ion, wi h only i e s udies in Eu ope (Spain, I aly, and Belgium) speci ically ocusing on
he pe pe a ion o online sexual ha assmen du ing adolescence.
Despi e g owing in e es , howe e , he e a e s ill ew ins umen s ha ha e been
alida ed ac oss di e en coun ies wi h he aim o enabling eliable p e alence compa -
isons. S udies ha enable he c oss-na ional alida ion o measu es a e i al o ad ancing
ou unde s anding o he phenomena, as hey p omo e he de elopmen o equi alen
measu es sensi i e o he di e ences ha exis be ween coun ies.
Spain and I aly a e Medi e anean coun ies in Wes e n Eu ope ha a e ai ly simila
in e ms o language and cul u al–social no ms. Bo h coun ies also ha e a long adi ion
Beha . Sci. 2025,15, 969 4 o 16
o esea ch in o in e pe sonal iolence du ing childhood and adolescence (Tai i e al.,2024;
Cab e a-Vázquez e al.,2025), and s udies on online sexual ha assmen ha e mul iplied
ecen ly (e.g., C apolicchio e al.,2022;C icen i e al.,2022;Díaz-Aguado & Ma ínez-A ias,
2022;Du án-Gue e o & Sánchez-Jiménez,2025;F anceschi e al.,2024;Ma ínez-Bacaicoa
e al.,2024;Miguel-Ál a o e al.,2024;Mo elli e al.,2020). An ini ial compa a i e s udy
be ween Spain and I aly on ace- o- ace sexual ic imisa ion in gi ls, conduc ed in 2010,
ound ha , in Spain, he p e alence o isual/ e bal o ms was wice as high as in I aly,
whe eas I alian gi ls we e mo e in ol ed in isual/ e bal and physical o ms han hei
Spanish coun e pa s (O ega e al.,2010). In e ms o online sexual ha assmen in Spain,
Sánchez-Jiménez e al. (2017) ound a es o a ound 25% o online sexual ic imisa ion,
whe eas in I aly, F anceschi e al. (2024) ound a es o o e 40%. Fo NCS in Spain,
he pe pe a ion a e anges be ween 4.9 and 14.3% (Du án-Gue e o & Sánchez-Jiménez,
2025;Gámez-Guadix e al.,2022a); whe eas in I aly, he igu e s ands sligh ly highe a
18.3% (Mo elli e al.,2020). To he bes o ou knowledge, no s udies o da e ha e di ec ly
compa ed he wo coun ies in e ms o online sexual ha assmen o , mo e speci ically, he
pe pe a ion o online sexual ha assmen among pee s du ing adolescence.
1.4. Online Sexual Ha assmen and Gende
Gende cons i u es a pi o al a iable in he s udy o in e pe sonal iolence, pa icula ly
in ela ion o sexual ha assmen . S udies sugges ha boys and gi ls pe cei e and expe ience
his ype o iolence di e en ly, wi h a mo e p onounced emo ional impac being obse ed
in gi ls han in boys (L. Reed e al.,2017). Howe e , s udies on gende di e ences in sexual
agg ession ha e so a yielded inconclusi e esul s. Mo i e al. (2022), o ins ance, ound no
gende di e ences in he pe pe a ion o di e en o ms o online sexual ha assmen among
adolescen s. Con e sely, a me a-analysis conduc ed by Pa el and Roesch (2022) ound a
no ably highe p e alence o speci ic o ms o online sexual ha assmen pe pe a ion among
boys (4.7% s. 3.6%). Some au ho s sugges ha his lack o consensus may s em om a
pauci y o s udies speci ically concen a ing on pe pe a ion (Buchanan & Mahoney,2022;
F anceschi e al.,2023), and ad oca e o mo e s udies ha ad ance his a enue o esea ch
by de eloping measu es capable o cap u ing gende di e ences in his ield.
1.5. The P esen S udy
The analysis o online sexual ha assmen du ing adolescence is s ill an eme ging ield
o s udy ha equi es alida ed ins umen s in o de o make headway in he ollowing
ou di e en a eas: Fi s ly, in he de e mina ion o i s speci ic o ms o ypologies. P e ious
heo e ical models sugges ha adi ional o ms o ha assmen ( ansposed di ec ly om
he o line o he online en i onmen ) a e in e ela ed in he online con ex (Ba ak,2005),
a leas in e ms o ic imisa ion (Sánchez-Jiménez e al.,2017). Ne e heless, ew s udies
o da e ha e included new, and mo e se ious, online-speci ic o ms o sexual ha assmen
(Ma ínez-Bacaicoa e al.,2024) such as NCS. Secondly, alida ed ins umen s a e needed o
examine he pe pe a ion o online sexual ha assmen among adolescen s in g ea e dep h.
To da e, mos s udies ha e ocused on ic imisa ion, wi h ew ocusing on pe pe a ion o
agg ession. Thi dly, alida ed ins umen s a e needed o enable esul s o be compa ed
ac oss coun ies. The sca ci y o s udies and measu es makes i di icul o do his a p esen ,
p e en ing any adjus ed es ima ion o hese phenomena in he adolescen popula ion.
Finally, in ligh o he abo e, u he s udies a e equi ed ha ake gende di e ences in
pe pe a ion in o accoun , iden i ying bo h simila i ies and di e ences be ween gi ls and
boys in ela ion o di e en o ms o online sexual agg ession.
The p esen s udy aims o u he his a enue o esea ch by adap ing and alida ing
an ins umen designed o assess he pe pe a ion o online sexual ha assmen among
Beha . Sci. 2025,15, 969 5 o 16
adolescen s in wo di e en coun ies, Spain and I aly, aking new o ms o online sexual
ha assmen in o accoun and conside ing gende di e ences. The s a ing poin o he
adap a ion was he Pee Sexual Cybe -Vic imisa ion Scale (SCV; Sánchez-Jiménez e al.,
2017), a Spanish adap a ion o he ins umen de eloped by he Ame ican Associa ion
o Uni e si y Women (2001) ha has also been alida ed o measu ing sexual cybe
ic imisa ion in I aly (F anceschi e al.,2024). Since he SCV has been ound o ha e good
psychome ic p ope ies when used in adolescen popula ions in bo h coun ies, i was
deemed sui able o adap a ion o pe pe a ion. Howe e , he p esen s udy also aims
o inco po a e new speci ic o ms o online sexual ha assmen ha a e ele an du ing
adolescence, such as NCS, in he belie ha his will p o ide a ulle pic u e o he di e si y
and complexi y o beha iou s p esen ly mani es ing in digi al en i onmen s and enable a
mo e comp ehensi e empi ical assessmen o bo h boys and gi ls.
The e o e, he aims o he p esen s udy a e as ollows: (1) o con i m he ac o
s uc u e o he Pee Sexual Cybe -Vic imisa ion Scale ins umen adap ed o measu e
pe pe a ion in he adolescen popula ion and encompassing a new NCS dimension, which
we will call he Online Sexual Ha assmen Pe pe a ion among Pee s scale; (2) o analyse
he ac o ial in a iance o he Online Sexual Ha assmen Pe pe a ion among Pee s scale
ac oss I aly and Spain; (3) o examine he ac o ial in a iance o he scale in e ms o gende .
2. Ma e ials and Me hods
2.1. Pa icipan s
The sample was made up o 2426 seconda y school s uden s om Andalucía (sou he n
Spain) and Toscana (cen al I aly). The Spanish sample (n= 1041) was ec ui ed om public
seconda y schools in Se ille and Huel a (47.4% de ined hemsel es as gi ls, 50.9% as boys,
0.9% bo h, and 0.9% nei he ). The age ange was 12–18 yea s (M
AGE
= 15.0, SD = 0.88).
The I alian sample (n= 1385) was ec ui ed om public and p i a e seconda y schools in
Flo ence, Lucca, Massa Ca a a, Pis oia, Pisa, Li o no, A ezzo, and P a o (50.9% de ined
hemsel es as gi ls, 45.7% as boys, 0.3% as o he , and 3.0% p e e ed no o answe ). The
age ange was 12–18 yea s (MAGE = 14.8, SD = 0.87).
2.2. P ocedu e
The Spanish sample o med pa o he i s wa e o wo Spanish s a e-wide p ojec s.
The educa ion au ho i ies p o ided a andom lis o schools, and six public seconda y
schools ag eed o pa icipa e in he s udy. These schools we e con ac ed and in o med o
he objec i es and condi ions o pa icipa ing in he p ojec . The same in o ma ion was also
sen o amilies, along wi h an in o med consen documen o hei child en o pa icipa e
in he s udy. Au ho ised s uden s comple ed he ques ionnai e in he class oom du ing
school hou s in 2022. The s uden s we e in o med o he s udy aims, he olun a y na u e
o hei pa icipa ion, and he con iden iali y o he da a collec ed. The s udy was app o ed
by he E hics Commi ee o he Uni e si y o Se ille (codes: 0606-N-22 and 2024-2709).
The I alian sample included adolescen s coming om wo p ojec s. The i s one is a
longi udinal p ojec called ‘P ejudicial bullying in ol ing e hnic g oups: Unde s anding
mechanisms and ansla ing knowledge in o e ec i e in e en ions’. The second one is
he con ol g oup o an an ibullying in e en ion p og amme called NoT ap!, which is
implemen ed e e y yea in Tuscany. Bo h p ojec s a e science-based I alian ini ia i es
ocused on p e en ing and educing (cybe )bullying among child en and adolescen s. They
seek o unde s and he causes o bullying and de elop e idence-based in e en ions. A
o al o 60 seconda y schools we e con ac ed by email and asked o collabo a e in he
p ojec s, and 21 exp essed an in e es in pa icipa ing, wi h a leas ou classes in each
school. S uden consen was eques ed o pa icipan s aged 14 yea s and o e , and pa en al
Beha . Sci. 2025,15, 969 6 o 16
consen was eques ed o hose unde 14 yea s o age. Da a we e collec ed du ing school
hou s in 2022, and s uden s we e eassu ed o he con iden ial na u e o he in o ma ion
hey p o ided and he olun a y na u e o hei pa icipa ion. This s udy was app o ed by
he Ca holic Uni e si y Commi ee (p o ocol n. 37-20 and 87-21) and by he Uni e si y o
Flo ence E hics Commi ees o Resea ch (code: 0173384).
Spanish pa icipan s comple ed he ques ionnai es in pencil and pape o ma du ing
school hou s. Quali ied esea che s we e in he class ooms o assis pa icipan s when
equi ed. I alian pa icipan s comple ed he ques ionnai es online, also du ing school
hou s, wi h quali ied esea che s connec ed emo ely. P e ious s udies highligh he no
di e ences be ween he use o pape –pencil o online o ma s (e.g., Dodou & de Win e ,
2014;Gwal ney e al.,2008). The I alian ques ionnai es we e ansla ed om he Spanish
and o iginal e sion h ough a highly luen esea che . A coo dina ion mee ing was also
o ganised o esol e any disc epancies and ensu e seman ic equi alence. Subsequen ly,
bo h he Spanish and I alian ques ionnai es we e ansla ed in o English o ensu e accu acy.
2.3. Ins umen s
Sociodemog aphic in o ma ion: Gende and age we e measu ed. Gende was mea-
su ed as boy, gi l, bina y, non-bina y, o he , and ‘I’d a he no answe ’.
Online Sexual Ha assmen Pe pe a ion among Pee s (OSHP-P): The ins umen com-
p ised wo scales which we e adap ed o p esen a homogeneous linguis ic s yle.
(1)
The Pee Sexual Cybe -Vic imisa ion Scale (SCV; Sánchez-Jiménez e al.,2017) was
modi ied and adap ed o measu e pe pe a ion. The scale comp ises he ollowing
wo subscales: 4 i ems o Ambiguous Sexual Cybe Pe pe a ion (ASCP) and 5 i ems
o Di ec Sexual Cybe Pe pe a ion (DSCP). The ASCP included i ems e e ing o
ambiguous sexual exchanges such as ‘Making sexual commen s, jokes, o ges u es on
social ne wo king p o iles o ia Wha sApp’, and he DSCP included i ems associa ed
wi h explici a acks o eques s di ec ed a a speci ic pe son, such as ‘Making jokes
o sp eading alse umou s abou someone’s sexual beha iou on hei social media
p o ile o ia Wha sApp’. S uden s we e asked o indica e he equency wi h which
hey had engaged in hese beha iou s o e he las wo mon hs when he o he pe son
did no wan o, using a 5-poin equency scale (1 = ne e , 2 = once o wice, 3 = mo e
han wice pe mon h, 4 = e e y week, 5 = e e y day).
(2)
The Non-Consensual Sha ing Pe pe a ion (NCSP) scale is an adap ed and educed
e sion o he Sex and Tech ques ionnai e used by Walke e al. (2021). I comp ises
3 i ems a ed on a 5-poin equency scale (1 = ne e , 2 = once o wice, 3 = mo e han
wice pe mon h, 4 = e e y week, 5 = e e y day) ha assess how o en he esponden
has o wa ded messages, images, and ideos o ano he pe son wi hou hei consen .
Pa icipan s we e asked o s a e how o en hey had engaged in a a ie y o sexual
ha assmen beha iou s du ing he las 2 mon hs. An example o an i em would be
‘Fo wa ding in ima e messages om o he people wi hou hei consen ’.
2.4. Analysis Plan
F equency, skewness, and ku osis we e assessed. Due o he s ongly asymme ic
dis ibu ion o he i ems, hey we e dicho omised in o 1 = no and 2 = yes. The p e alence
and dis ibu ion o i ems in bo h coun ies a e displayed in Table 1.
Beha . Sci. 2025,15, 969 7 o 16
Table 1. P e alence o i ems in each coun y.
I ems Spain
(% Yes)
I aly
(% Yes)
SCP1. Making obscene (‘di y’) commen s, jokes, o ges u es on a Social Ne wo king p o ile 12.6 19.7
SCP2. Sp eading umou s abou someone else’s sexual beha iou on Social Ne wo king si es
8.1 6.4
SCP3. Calling someone a ‘ aggo ’, ‘lesbo’, ‘slu ’ o simila name on Social Ne wo king si es 16.0 15.3
SCP4. Showing one’s a se o o he body pa s in pho os on Social Ne wo king si es 10.9 5.8
SCP5. Showing o pos ing sexual images, pic u es, messages o obscene (‘slu y’) ema ks on
Social Ne wo king si es 6.5 2.8
SCP6. Sending sexual messages o d awings o ano he pe son on Social Ne wo king si es 10.0 6.1
SCP7. Talking abou sex on he In e ne and Social Ne wo king si es 31.2 24.8
SCP8. Hin ing a o asking someone o pos unclo hed pic u es o any pa o hei body on
Social Ne wo king si es 8.4 3.7
SCP9. Sending o showing pe sonal pic u es o you sel in a p o oca i e a i ude o showing
any pa o you body on Social Ne wo king si es 12.5 5.4
NCS1. Fo wa ding in ima e messages om o he people wi hou hei consen 12.2 7.3
NCS2. Fo wa ding in ima e pho os o o he people wi hou hei consen 3.9 3.9
NCS3. Fo wa ding in ima e ideos o o he people wi hou hei consen 2.2 2.9
Pe cen ages indica e he p opo ion o pa icipan s who epo ed engaging in each conduc a leas once in he
pas wo mon hs.
To add ess he i s aim, a CFA was pe o med o examine he ins umen ’s ac o
s uc u e. Two models we e es ed. The i s was a h ee- ac o i s -o de model ollowing
he ins umen ’s o iginal scales (ASCP + DSCP + NCSP). The second consis ed o wo
i s -o de ac o s, combining he ambiguous and di ec pe pe a ion subscales in o a single
ac o (ASCP + DSCP = SCP) wi h NCSP as he second ac o (SCP + NCSP). A e selec ing
he model wi h he bes i indices, he in e nal consis ency o he ac o s was analysed. The
selec ed model was es ed in each coun y. The weigh ed leas squa e mean and a iance
adjus ed es ima o and he a pa ame e isa ion (WLSMV; B own,2006;Mu hén & Mu hén,
2012) we e used due o he ca ego ical na u e o he da a. The oo mean squa e e o o
app oxima ion (RMSEA) and compa a i e i index (CFI) we e used o assess goodness o
i . The cu -o poin s we e <0.06 o RMSEA and >0.90 o CFI (Kenny & McCoach,2003).
To espond o he s udy’s second aim, in a iance analyses by coun y we e pe o med
in wo s eps, s a ing wi h a less es ic i e model be o e mo ing on o a mo e es ic i e
one. In he i s s ep, con igu al in a iance was es ed, wi h ee ac o loadings and i em
h esholds, i em esiduals se o 1, ac o means se o 1, and a iance se o 0 in each g oup.
In he second s ep, s ic in a iance was es ed, wi h ac o loadings and i em h esholds se
o be he same in bo h g oups, esidual a iances se o 1 in he i s g oup ( ee in he second
g oup), ac o means se o 0 in he i s g oup ( ee in he second g oup), and a iance se
o 1 o iden i ica ion in bo h g oups. The WLSMV es ima o and he a pa ame e isa ion
we e also used. Chi-squa e es alues we e epo ed; howe e , hey we e no used in
he model compa ison due o hei sensi i i y o la ge sample sizes (Kline,2015). Ins ead,
he a ia ion in wo al e na i e i indices o
χ2
in he in a iance analysis was analysed
(Ru kowski & S e ina,2014). The selec ed i indices we e again RMSEA and CFI, wi h
only one di e ence: <0.015 o ∆RMSEA and <0.010 o ∆CFI (Chen,2007).
To achie e he hi d aim and es gende in a iance, he decision was made o emo e
he non-bina y, o he , and nei he g oups om he analysis due o hei low p e alence
(n= 66, 2.7%). Consequen ly, in a iance be ween gi ls and boys was es ed ollowing he
p e iously epo ed s eps. Analyses we e pe o med wi h Mplus 8.3 and SPSS 29.
Beha . Sci. 2025,15, 969 8 o 16
3. Resul s
To espond o he s udy’s i s aim, a CFA was pe o med o es he ac o s uc u e
o he wo models in he o al sample. Model 1 comp ised h ee ac o s; whe eas Model
2 comp ised wo ac o s (see Table 2). Fac o loadings and s uc u e o bo h models we e
included in Figu e 1. Bo h models we e ound o ha e adequa e i indices. Howe e ,
e y high s anda dised co ela ions we e obse ed be ween he ASCP and DSCP ac o s
o Model 1 ( = 0.98), whe eas Model 2 e u ned adequa e co ela ions be ween i s wo
ac o s, = 0.69. Consequen ly, Model 2 was deemed o i he da a be e , wi h an a e age
a iance ex ac ed (AVE) o 0.61 o SCP and o 0.75 o NCS, and a composi e eliabili y
(CR) alue o 0.93 o SCP and o 0.90 o NCS. Reliabili y analyses o he esul ing ac o s
we e pe o med in each coun y, wi h op imal esul s being ob ained o bo h Spain (SCP,
Ω= 0.86; NCSP, Ω= 0.75) and I aly (SCP, Ω= 0.80; NCSP, Ω= 0.80).
Table 2. Resul s o he con i ma o y ac o analysis.
Model Nχ2(DF) RMSEA Lowe , Uppe CFI SRMR
Model 1 2357 313.43 (51) 0.05 0.04, 0.05 0.96 0.07
Model 2 2357 312.74 (53) 0.05 0.04, 0.05 0.96 0.07
Spain 1020 160.03 (53) 0.04 0.04, 0.05 0.97 0.07
I aly 1337 171.55 (53) 0.04 0.03, 0.05 0.96 0.08
Boys 1196 240.70 (53) 0.05 0.05, 0.06 0.95 0.09
Gi ls 1161 126.40 (53) 0.04 0.03, 0.04 0.98 0.06
CFAs ac oss coun ies and gende s we e pe o med only wi h Model 2 due o he s ong co ela ion ound
be ween he ASCP and DSCP ac o s in Model 1. Chi-squa e was signi ican in all CFAs a p< 0.001.
Figu e 1. Con i ma o y ac o analysis models: s uc u e and s anda dised ac o loadings.
To add ess he second aim, CFAs we e conduc ed in bo h Spain and I aly wi h he wo-
dimensional model as a p elimina y s ep p io o he in a iance analyses (see Table 2), wi h
excellen i indices being ound in bo h coun ies. In he c oss-na ional in a iance analyses
(Table 3), he con igu al s ep e u ned excellen i indices. S anda dised esul s we e also
excellen in bo h coun ies, wi h all ac o loadings (es ima es exceeded 0.50), in e cep s,
and h esholds being signi ican . The s ic s ep also e u ned excellen esul s. The analysis
Beha . Sci. 2025,15, 969 9 o 16
o di e ences be ween he i indices o he con igu al and s ic s eps did no e u n poo e
esul s, he eby indica ing s ong ac o ial in a iance ac oss coun ies. Achie ing s ong
ac o ial in a iance made i possible o compa e p e alence a es be ween coun ies.
Table 3. Resul s o he c oss-na ional and c oss-gende in a iance ac o analysis.
C oss-Na ional χ2(DF) RMSEA Lowe , Uppe CFI SRMR ∆RMSEA ∆CFI
Con igu al 331.49 (106) 0.04 0.04, 0.05 0.97 0.07
S ic 372.47 (116) 0.04 0.04, 0.05 0.96 0.08 0.001 −0.004
C oss-Gende χ2(DF) RMSEA Lowe , Uppe CFI SRMR ∆RMSEA ∆CFI
Con igu al 371.32 (106) 0.05 0.04, 0.05 0.96 0.08
S ic 370.96 (116) 0.04 0.04, 0.05 0.96 0.08 −0.003 0.003
To al sample = 2357. Chi-squa e was signi ican in all s eps es ed a p< 0.001.
Finally, c oss-na ional in a iance enabled us o explo e c oss-gende in a iance,
he eby esponding o he s udy’s hi d aim. The CFA esul s in boys and gi ls (included in
Table 2) e ealed adequa e i indices. In a iance analyses also e u ned op imal esul s
a baseline (see Table 3). The con igu al s ep indica ed excellen i indices. S anda dised
esul s we e also excellen o bo h gende s, wi h all ac o loadings (es ima es exceeded
0.50), in e cep s, and h esholds being signi ican . Nex , he s ic s ep was pe o med, wi h
excellen i indices being ob ained once again. When he wo s eps we e compa ed, he
es ic ion o he i indices was no obse ed o esul in poo e alues, he eby indica ing
s ong ac o ial in a iance be ween boys and gi ls. Achie ing s ong ac o ial in a iance
enabled he compa ison o p e alence a es be ween boys and gi ls.
Table 4p esen s he p e alence esul s by coun y and gende . Signi ican di e ences
we e obse ed be ween coun ies [
χ2
(3)= 11.92, p< 0.01], al hough wi h a small e ec size
(C ame ’s V= 0.07). Spain had signi ican ly highe p e alence a es in he o e all scale
(OSHP-P: 48.3% s. 42.9%, p< 0.01), as well as o in ol emen in NCSP only (3.5% s.
2.0%, p< 0.05) and co-in ol emen in bo h o ms o online sexual ha assmen (10.3% s.
7.8%, p< 0.01). Bo h coun ies had highe p e alence a es o in ol emen in SCP only
(Spain: 34.5% s. I aly: 33.1%), wi h no signi ican di e ences be ween hem.
Table 4. P e alence o online sexual ha assmen pe pe a ion among pee s: sexual cybe pe pe a ion,
non-consensual sha ing pe pe a ion, and bo h.
C oss-Na ional C oss-Gende
Spain (%) I aly (%) Gi ls (%) Boys (%)
None 527 (51.7) 763 (57.1) 641 (53.6) 649 (55.9)
SCP 352 (34.5) 443 (33.1) 426 (35.6) 369 (31.8)
NCSP 35 (3.5) 27 (2.0) 36 (3.0) 26 (2.2)
Bo h 105 (10.3) 104 (7.8) 92 (7.7) 117 (10.1)
SCP = Sexual Cybe Pe pe a ion Scale; NCSP = Non-Consensual Sha ing Pe pe a ion Scale. C oss-na ional,
χ2(3) = 11.92, p< 0.01; C ame ’s V= 0.07. C oss-gende , χ2(3) = 8.25, p< 0.05; C ame ’s V= 0.06.
The gende analyses e ealed signi ican di e ences be ween boys and gi ls [
χ2(3) = 8.25
,
p< 0.05], albei wi h a small e ec size (C ame ’s V= 0.05). Gi ls epo ed signi ican ly highe
p e alence a es o in ol emen in SCP only (gi ls: 35.6% s. boys: 31.8%, p< 0.01), whe eas
boys sco ed signi ican ly highe o co-in ol emen in bo h o ms o online sexual ha assmen
(gi ls: 7.7% s. boys: 10.1%, p< 0.01). No gende di e ences we e ound in in ol emen a es
in ei he he o e all scale (OSHP-P: gi ls: 46.4% s. boys: 44.1%) o he NCSP subscale (gi ls:
3.0% s. boys: 2.2%).
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