The findings of the qualitative study by Kira Thiel and Dr Claudia Lampert provide valuable information on how young people deal with stressful online experiences and where they need support. From a media education perspective, approaches that raise young people's awareness of their rights in the digital space, sharpen their sense of injustice and strengthen their self-assertion are particularly to be advocated. This applies in particular with regard to sexual boundary violations, but also with consideration of the topic of civil courage in the digital space.
The study is part of the BMBF project "Security for Children in the Digital World (SIKID)". The findings are based on interviews conducted in the summer of 2022 with 16 young people aged twelve to 17.
You can download the working paper here (PDF, in German)
Findings at a Glance
- Young people interact in a variety of public spheres, for instance with classmates in semi-public class chats, with online acquaintances in multiplayer games as well as with strangers or bots on social media platforms.
- The experience of interaction risks, such as rude and hurtful behaviour, violation of sexual boundaries and assault or cybergrooming, varies both in the number of incidents and in the evaluation of the situation, the intensity of the stress and the respective emotion.
- We were able to identify event-, sender-, subject-, perception- and context-related stress factors from the young people's statements, each of which has an influence on the individual (stress) experience.
- In the case of stressful online experiences, children and adolescents draw on a diverse spectrum of courses of action. Some use strategies that are directed at the stressor (e.g., technical defence strategies, passive avoidance strategies or confrontation), while others try to ignore the stressor (e.g., communication content, people, or experiences). In addition, there is also evidence in the interviews of cognitive and emotion-regulating strategies such as devaluing the stressor or distracting and focusing on something positive.
- The coping strategies are used at different times and in different combinations, depending on the situation and the degree of stress. In this context, individual strategies, such as deleting the chat history or removing unwanted pictures, can sometimes prove to be counterproductive, as they make prosecution more difficult.
- Regarding the use of support and help offerings, a kind of "support cascade" can be recognised. After their own efforts to cope have failed, they first turn to the help of people close to them, such as parents and friends, and only when these have reached their limits, they seek the support of more distant actors and groups of people.
- The young people express different needs in terms of support offerings. While for some of the interviewees instrumental and informational support (e.g. solving the problem together or getting advice and further information) is in the foreground, others want emotional support above all.
- From the point of view of the interviewed adolescents, good support is characterised above all by listening without value or prejudice, discretion and the feeling of being taken seriously with one's own concerns and needs.
- Young people often do not seem to know what rights they have in the digital space and how they can enforce them (e.g. in which cases the police are responsible).
Thiel, Kira; Lampert, Claudia (2023): Wahrnehmung, Bewertung und Bewältigung belastender Online-Erfahrungen von Jugendlichen. Eine qualitative Studie im Rahmen des Projekts „SIKID – Sicherheit für Kinder in der digitalen Welt“ [Perception, Evaluation and Coping with Stressful Online Experiences of Adolescents. A Qualitative Study within the Project "SIKID - Safety for Children in the Digital World"]. Hamburg: Verlag Hans-Bredow-Institut, May 2023 (Working Papers of the Hans-Bredow-Institut | Project Findings No 65) DOI: https://doi.org/10.21241/ssoar.86633
Hamburg, 17 May 2023
