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Activities and Experiences of Czech Adolescents in Cyberspace

Martin Dolejš1, Jaroslava Suchá1, Terezie Babilonová1, Barbora Hudecová1

1Department of Psychology, Faculty of Arts, Palacký University Olomouc, Olomouc, Czech Republic

Disclosure of interest statement: This work was made possible thanks to targeted funding provided by the Czech Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports for specific research, granted in 2021 to Palacký University Olomouc (Self-harm in Czech adolescents and young adults IGA_FF_2024_006). The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

Background: While the online environment brings with it positive aspects that contribute and help girls and boys to form and search for their own identity, adolescents may also encounter risks in the online world that may jeopardize their identity development. In an effort to keep abreast of current online trends, our goal is to capture the current risks in the online environment that emerge for a group of adolescents. Screening for unhealthy online behaviours will help deepen our knowledge on this issue, especially in the current era where the internet occupies a prominent place in the lives of adolescents.

Methods: The test battery contains a cyberspace sensitivity questionnaire (Babilonová, Hudecová, Suchá, & Dolejš, 2022). This questionnaire consists of 67 items that focus on behaviours and experiences in online space. Online behaviour refers to all online activities (e.g., using social networks, sharing information, watching videos and posts, etc.). Example of an item: "If a stranger sends me a picture of themselves, I am more willing to send a picture of myself." 2,196 Czech adolescents (51.91% of them girls) participated in the research project. The age range was 15 to 19 years and the mean age of the whole group was 16.81 years (SD = ±1.01). The participants attended secondary educational institutions (ISCED 3) - grammar schools, secondary schools and vocational secondary schools.

Results: A total of 54.14% of girls and boys in the cohort were asked by a stranger to send a photograph of themselves. 28.30% of the surveyed adolescents sent their photo to a stranger. 55.73% of adolescents received a photo of a naked body from a stranger. 0.64% of the respondents of the study group have experience of offering a photo of their exposed body on the internet to strangers for money. 42.49% of girls and boys have been victims of threats and 12.33% of respondents have experienced blackmail, for example, someone posting some personal information, photos or videos of the adolescent. Accepting money for offering sexual activities from someone via social networks was confirmed by 1.41%. Pornography is viewed by 48.86% of male and female students.

Conclusion: data can be used to plan effective evidence-based prevention interventions, but can also be used to monitor long-term trends in the prevalence of adolescents’ activities and experiences in cyberspace.

Keywords: adolescence, experiences, activities, social networks and cyberspace.

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