Associations between online child sexual solicitation and abuse and offline child maltreatment: A latent class analysis

1. Chauviré-Geib K, Gerke J, Haag A-C, Sachser C, Finkelhor D, Rassenhofer M, Fegert JM (2025) The increase in online child sexual solicitation and abuse: Indicator 16.2.3 of the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) documents a hidden and growing pandemic. Population-based surveys fail to capture the full picture. Child Abuse Negl. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chiabu.2025.107452

2. United Nations (2024) The Sustainable Development Goals Report 2024.

3. Fry D, Krzeczkowska A, Anderson N, et al (2024) The Prevalence of Online Victimisation. Data from ‘Into the Light: Childlight’s Global Child Sexual Exploitation and Abuse Index.’ Childlight, Edinburgh

4. Finkelhor D, Turner H, Colburn D (2022) Prevalence of Online Sexual Offenses Against Children in the US. JAMA Netw Open 5:e2234471

5. Sethi D, Bellis M, Hughes K, Gilbert R, Mitis F, Galea G (2013) European report on preventing child maltreatment. World Health Organization. Regional Office for Europe

6. Stoltenborgh M, Bakermans-Kranenburg MJ, Alink LRA, van IJzendoorn MH (2015) The Prevalence of Child Maltreatment across the Globe: Review of a Series of Meta‐Analyses. Child Abuse Rev 24:37–50

7. Stoltenborgh M, Van IJzendoorn MH, Euser EM, Bakermans-Kranenburg MJ (2011) A Global Perspective on Child Sexual Abuse: Meta-Analysis of Prevalence Around the World. Child Maltreat 16:79–101

8. Finkelhor D, Ormrod RK, Turner HA (2007) Poly-victimization: A neglected component in child victimization. Child Abuse Negl 31:7–26

9. Häuser W, Schmutzer G, Brähler E, Glaesmer H (2011) Misshandlungen in Kindheit und Jugend. Dtsch Ärztebl 108:1–13

10. Matsumoto M, Piersiak HA, Letterie MC, Humphreys KL (2023) Population-Based Estimates of Associations Between Child Maltreatment Types: A Meta-Analysis. Trauma Violence Abuse 24:487–496

11. Russotti J, Warmingham J, Handley ED, Manly J, Cicchetti D (2024) Common Patterns of Maltreatment Exposure: A Replication Study Using Confirmatory Latent Class Analysis. https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.4940795

12. Warmingham JM, Handley ED, Rogosch FA, Manly JT, Cicchetti D (2019) Identifying maltreatment subgroups with patterns of maltreatment subtype and chronicity: A latent class analysis approach. Child Abuse Negl 87:28–39

13. Edwards VJ, Holden GW, Felitti VJ, Anda RF (2003) Relationship Between Multiple Forms of Childhood Maltreatment and Adult Mental Health in Community Respondents: Results From the Adverse Childhood Experiences Study. Am J Psychiatry 160:1453–1460

14. Higgins DJ, Mathews B, Pacella R, et al (2023) The prevalence and nature of multi-type child maltreatment in Australia. Med J Aust. https://doi.org/10.5694/mja2.51868

15. Witt A, Sachser C, L. Plener P, Brähler E, M. Fegert J (2019) The Prevalence and Consequences of Adverse Childhood Experiences in the German Population. Dtsch Ärztebl Int 116:635–642

16. Bürgin D, Clemens V, Witt A, Sachser C, Jud A, Brähler E, Strauß B, Petrowski K, Schmid M, Fegert JM (2023) Adverse childhood experiences increase the risk for low perceived social participation and health-related quality of life in a large-scale population-based study in Germany. Child Abuse Negl 144:106382

17. Fegert JM, Sachser C, Witt A (2021) Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACE) – belastende Kindheitserlebnisse. In: Fegert JM, Resch F, Plener P, Kaess M, Döpfner M, Konrad K, Legenbauer T (eds) Psychiatr. Psychother. Kindes- Jugendalters. Springer Berlin Heidelberg, Berlin, Heidelberg, pp 1–10

18. Debowska A, Willmott D, Boduszek D, Jones AD (2017) What do we know about child abuse and neglect patterns of co-occurrence? A systematic review of profiling studies and recommendations for future research. Child Abuse Negl 70:100–111

19. Witt A, Jud A, Finkelhor D, Brähler E, Fegert JM (2020) Monitoring recent trends: The prevalence of disclosure of sexual abuse in a representative sample of the German population based on indicator 16.2.3 of the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDG). Child Abuse Negl 107:104575

20. OECD (2013) OECD Framework for Statistics on the Distribution of Household Income, Consumption and Wealth. https://doi.org/10.1787/9789264194830-en

21. Schäfer I, Wingenfeld K, Spitzer C (2009) Deutsche Version des “Adverse Childhood Experiences Questionnaire (ACE).”

22. Felitti VJ, Anda RF, Nordenberg D, Williamson DF, Spitz AM, Edwards V, Koss MP, Marks JS (1998) Relationship of Childhood Abuse and Household Dysfunction to Many of the Leading Causes of Death in Adults. Am J Prev Med 14:245–258

23. Wingenfeld K, Schäfer I, Terfehr K, Grabski H, Driessen M, Grabe H, Löwe B, Spitzer C (2011) Reliable, valide und ökonomische Erfassung früher Traumatisierung: Erste psychometrische Charakterisierung der deutschen Version des Adverse Childhood Experiences Questionnaire (ACE). PPmP - Psychother · Psychosom · Med Psychol 61:e10–e14

24. Cohen J (1988) Statistical power analysis for the behavioral sciences, 2nd ed. L. Erlbaum Associates, Hillsdale, N.J

25. Linzer D, Lewis J (2022) “poLCA: Polytomous Variable Latent Class Analysis.” R package version 1.6.

26. Proust-Lima C, Philipps V, Liquet B (2017) Estimation of Extended Mixed Models Using Latent Classes and Latent Processes: The R Package lcmm. J Stat Softw. https://doi.org/10.18637/jss.v078.i02

27. Meyer D, Dimitriadou E, Hornik K, Weingessel A, Leisch F, Chang C-C, Lin C-C (2024) Misc Functions of the Department of Statistics, Probability Theory Group (Formerly: E1071), TU Wien.

28. Nylund-Gibson K, Choi AY (2018) Ten frequently asked questions about latent class analysis. Transl Issues Psychol Sci 4:440–461

29. Van Lissa CJ, Garnier-Villarreal M, Anadria D (2024) Recommended Practices in Latent Class Analysis Using the Open-Source R-Package tidySEM. Struct Equ Model Multidiscip J 31:526–534

30. Masyn KE (2013) Latent Class Analysis and Finite Mixture Modeling. https://doi.org/10.1093/oxfordhb/9780199934898.013.0025

31. Stoica P, Selen Y (2004) Model-order selection. IEEE Signal Process Mag 21:36–47

32. Celeux G, Soromenho G (1996) An entropy criterion for assessing the number of clusters in a mixture model. J Classif 13:195–212

33. Lo Y, Mendell NR, Rubin DB (2001) Testing the number of components in a normal mixture. Biometrika 88:767–778

34. Nylund KL, Asparouhov T, Muthén BO (2007) Deciding on the Number of Classes in Latent Class Analysis and Growth Mixture Modeling: A Monte Carlo Simulation Study. Struct Equ Model Multidiscip J 14:535–569

35. Morovati D (2014) The Intersection of Sample Size, Number of Indicators, and Class Enumeration in LCA: A Monte Carlo Study.

36. Brown SM, Rienks S, McCrae JS, Watamura SE (2019) The co-occurrence of adverse childhood experiences among children investigated for child maltreatment: A latent class analysis. Child Abuse Negl 87:18–27

37. Fedele M, Boté-Vericad J-J, Martín-Piñol C, Fuentes Moreno C (2025) Young people’s affective-sexual education: the gap between the ‘affective’ and the ‘sexual’ dimensions in formal and non-formal/informal educational settings. Int J Adolesc Youth 30:2441308

38. Sorbring E, Skoog T, Bohlin M (2014) Adolescent girls’ and boys’ well-being in relation to online and offline sexual and romantic activity. Cyberpsychology J Psychosoc Res Cyberspace. https://doi.org/10.5817/CP2014-1-7

39. Gamson J, Hertz R (2023) “But Everything Else, I Learned Online”: School-Based and Internet-Based Sexual Learning Experiences of Heterosexual and LGBQ + Youth. Qual Sociol 46:461–485

40. Rotermann M, McKay A (2024) Where do 15- to -17-year-olds in Canada get their sexual health information? https://doi.org/10.25318/82-003-X202400100001-ENG

41. Sachser C, Berliner L, Risch E, Rosner R, Birkeland MS, Eilers R, Hafstad GS, Pfeiffer E, Plener PL, Jensen TK (2022) The child and Adolescent Trauma Screen 2 (CATS-2) – validation of an instrument to measure DSM-5 and ICD-11 PTSD and complex PTSD in children and adolescents. Eur J Psychotraumatology. https://doi.org/10.1080/20008066.2022.2105580

42. Kaplow JB, Rolon-Arroyo B, Layne CM, Rooney E, Oosterhoff B, Hill R, Steinberg AM, Lotterman J, Gallagher KAS, Pynoos RS (2020) Validation of the UCLA PTSD Reaction Index for DSM-5: A Developmentally Informed Assessment Tool for Youth. J Am Acad Child Adolesc Psychiatry 59:186–194

43. Finkelhor D, Ormrod R, Turner H, Holt M (2009) Pathways to Poly-Victimization. Child Maltreat 14:316–329

44. Turner HA, Finkelhor D, Colburn D (2023) Predictors of Online Child Sexual Abuse in a U.S. National Sample. J Interpers Violence 38:7780–7803

45. Schütz R, Bilz L (2024) Increasing loneliness among German children and adolescents from 2018 to 2022: A cross-sectional survey before and after the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. J Public Health. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10389-024-02356-2

46. Badri M, Alnuaimi A, Al Rashedi A, Yang G, Temsah K (2017) School children’s use of digital devices, social media and parental knowledge and involvement – the case of Abu Dhabi. Educ Inf Technol 22:2645–2664

47. Gemara N, Mishna F, Katz C (2023) ‘If my parents find out, I will not see my phone anymore’: Who do children choose to disclose online sexual solicitation to? Child Fam Soc Work cfs.13069

48. Marciano L, Ostroumova M, Schulz PJ, Camerini A-L (2022) Digital Media Use and Adolescents’ Mental Health During the Covid-19 Pandemic: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis. Front Public Health 9:793868

49. Liau AK, Khoo A, Ang PH (2008) Parental Awareness and Monitoring of Adolescent Internet Use. Curr Psychol 27:217–233

50. Symons K, Ponnet K, Emmery K, Walrave M, Heirman W (2017) Parental Knowledge of Adolescents’ Online Content and Contact Risks. J Youth Adolesc 46:401–416

51. Blangis F, Arseneault L, Caspi A, Latham RM, Moffitt TE, Fisher HL (2024) Testing whether multi-level factors protect poly-victimised children against psychopathology in early adulthood: a longitudinal cohort study. Epidemiol Psychiatr Sci. https://doi.org/10.1017/s2045796024000660

52. McLaughlin KA, Sheridan MA (2016) Beyond Cumulative Risk: A Dimensional Approach to Childhood Adversity. Curr Dir Psychol Sci 25:239–245

53. Nurius PS, Prince DM, Rocha A (2015) Cumulative Disadvantage and Youth Well-Being: A Multi-domain Examination with Life Course Implications. Child Adolesc Soc Work J 32:567–576

54. Brandt J, Hagge KS (2020) Education and social support: do migrants benefit as much as natives? Comp Migr Stud 8:41

55. Shonkoff JP, Boyce WT, McEwen BS (2009) Neuroscience, Molecular Biology, and the Childhood Roots of Health Disparities: Building a New Framework for Health Promotion and Disease Prevention. JAMA 301:2252

56. Currie J, Spatz Widom C (2010) Long-Term Consequences of Child Abuse and Neglect on Adult Economic Well-Being. Child Maltreat 15:111–120

57. Shahab MK, Elzinga BM, Spinhoven P, Rosendaal FR, Penninx BWJH, Mook-Kanamori DO (2025) Footprints from childhood: intra- versus extra-familial childhood maltreatment and attachment to romantic partners in adulthood. BMC Psychol. https://doi.org/10.1186/s40359-025-03001-7

Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

58. Höltge J, Rohner SL, Heim EM, Nater U, Thoma MV (2023) Differential Pathways from Child Maltreatment Types to Insecure Adult Attachment Styles via Psychological and Social Resources: A Bayesian Network Analysis. J Interpers Violence 38:7089–7114

59. Riggs SA (2010) Childhood Emotional Abuse and the Attachment System Across the Life Cycle: What Theory and Research Tell Us. J Aggress Maltreatment Trauma 19:5–51

60. Guan C, Wang J, Zhang L, Xu Z, Zhang Y, Jiang B (2025) A longitudinal network analysis of the relationship between love addiction, insecure attachment patterns, and interpersonal dependence. BMC Psychol. https://doi.org/10.1186/s40359-025-02605-3

61. Sun L, Canevello A, Lewis KA, Li J, Crocker J (2021) Childhood Emotional Maltreatment and Romantic Relationships: The Role of Compassionate Goals. Front Psychol. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2021.723126

62. Pierce J, Abbey A, Wegner R (2018) Mediators of the Association Between Childhood Emotional Maltreatment and Young Adult Men’s Life Satisfaction. J Interpers Violence 33:595–616

63. Fernando SK, Quinlan E, Paparo J (2024) Childhood emotional maltreatment and romantic relationship satisfaction: the mediating role of early maladaptive schemas. Clin Psychol 28:317–330

65. Mathews B, Pacella R, Dunne MP, Simunovic M, Marston C (2020) Improving measurement of child abuse and neglect: A systematic review and analysis of national prevalence studies. PLOS ONE 15:e0227884

66. Witt A, Brown RC, Plener PL, Brähler E, Fegert JM (2017) Child maltreatment in Germany: prevalence rates in the general population. Child Adolesc Psychiatry Ment Health 11:1–9

67. De Ridder S (2017) Social Media and Young People’s Sexualities: Values, Norms, and Battlegrounds. Soc Media Soc 3:205630511773899

68. Maes C, Vandenbosch L (2022) Adolescents’ Use of Sexually Explicit Internet Material Over the Course of 2019–2020 in the Context of the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Three-wave Panel Study. Arch Sex Behav 51:105–121

69. Gámez-Guadix M, Almendros C, Calvete E, De Santisteban P (2018) Persuasion strategies and sexual solicitations and interactions in online sexual grooming of adolescents: Modeling direct and indirect pathways. J Adolesc 63:11–18

70. Latham RM, Quilter E, Arseneault L, Danese A, Moffitt TE, Newbury JB, Fisher HL (2021) Childhood maltreatment and poor functional outcomes at the transition to adulthood: a comparison of prospective informant- and retrospective self-reports of maltreatment. Soc Psychiatry Psychiatr Epidemiol 56:1161–1173

71. Finkelhor D, Cavanaugh C, Turner H, Colburn D, Sutton S, Mathews B (2024) When Is Online Sexual Solicitation of a Minor Considered Sexual Abuse? Recommendations for Victim Prevalence Surveys. Trauma Violence Abuse 25:4117–4129

72. Dugassa H, Joos E, MacKinlay P, Zhu G (2025) Screen Smarts: The Factors and Interventions of Media and Digital Health Literacy in Children and Adolescents. Child Health Interdiscip Lit Discov J 3:80–84

73. Lacey RE, Minnis H (2020) Practitioner Review: Twenty years of research with adverse childhood experience scores – Advantages, disadvantages and applications to practice. J Child Psychol Psychiatry 61:116–130

74. Sawyer K, Kempe S, Carwana M, Racine N (2024) Global and inclusive considerations for the future of ACEs research. Child Prot Pract 3:100054

75. Allroggen M, Rau T, Ohlert J, Fegert JM (2017) Lifetime prevalence and incidence of sexual victimization of adolescents in institutional care. Child Abuse Negl 66:23–30

76. Hardt J, Rutter M (2004) Validity of adult retrospective reports of adverse childhood experiences: review of the evidence. J Child Psychol Psychiatry 45:260–273

Comments (0)

No login
gif