Risk-Seeking, Risky Lifestyles and Cyberstalking – What Factors Promote Cyberstalking Victimization Among Adolescents? An Empirical Test of the Self-Control/Risky Lifestyle Mediation Hypothesis

Abstract

The aim of this paper is to apply the self-control/risky lifestyle theory to the risk of cyberstalking victimization among a younger age group by using a representative student sample from Germany. Results show that cyberstalking victimization is experienced by 18.2% of the representative sample of ninth graders. Girls were more often victimized than boys. Only a minority solely experience cyberstalking whereas considerably more juveniles report having experienced both offline stalking and cyberstalking. The findings from the parallel multiple mediation models support the self-control/lifestyle theory and are consistent with a growing body of literature indicating that low self-control has a direct and indirect effect on the risk of experiencing cyberstalking. For both genders, risk seeking is significantly and positively associated with the risk of experiencing – both directly and indirectly – cyberstalking victimization.