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Cited by 13Adolescent Sexual and Reproductive HealthImpact of Technology on AdolescentsDigital Communication and Language

Strategies and cues adolescents use to assess the age of an online stranger

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Groenestein, Ellen, Baas, Niels, van Deursen, Alexander J. A. M., de Jong, Menno D. T.·2018·Information, Communication & Society
DOI 10.1080/1369118x.2017.1309443
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Abstract

A common risk among adolescents is sexual solicitation, in which an adolescent is asked to provide sexual information, engage in sexual talk, or in sexual activities. Although scholars increasingly address this topic from an intrapersonal perspective, there is little attention to factors of language use and message content. In two focus group studies, we investigated whether adolescent girls consider themselves capable of assessing whether an online stranger is an adult or a peer, the extent to which adolescent girls actually succeed in making this assessment, the strategies they apply to do so, and the content- and language-related cues focused on. Our findings suggest that most of the adolescent girls are confident in their ability to assess whether the stranger is a peer or an adult with possible sexual intentions. However, we also found that only 43% were able to correctly make this assessment. Most of the adolescents seem to apply the passive strategy of uncertainty reduction: They scan the profile page of the stranger, check contact information, and the profile picture. They may choose to apply the interactive strategy to find out more about the online stranger. Important content-related cues that alarm adolescent girls are: ignoring personal questions, showing an exaggerated amount of interest, acting as a friend, and being sexually oriented. Language cues mentioned related to word usage, abbreviations, sentence length, and tone.

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  • Teens who spend more time on the Internet and social networks are more likely to interact with strangers, including some groomers.

    “Some research has found that teens who spend more time on the Internet and social networks are more likely to interact with strangers, including some groomers [20,21].”

    From Grooming Risk Factors in Adolescents with Abuse Histories: Insights from Chilean Reparative Programs (2025) · cites this paper as [21]

    The Results (§4.2.2; page unavailable) say that nearly all participating adolescent girls had been approached by strangers online. The Introduction (§1; page unavailable) says groomers use the Internet and social networking sites to reach adolescents. Neither passage establishes that teens who spend more time online are more likely to interact with strangers or groomers. (LLM, conf=0.85)

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  • In the same survey, more than half overestimated their ability to detect risk, as only 43% made accurate assessments.

    “However, when tested on their ability to differentiate between peers and adults with sexual intentions in online interactions, more than half overestimated their ability to detect risk as only 43% made accurate assessments (Groenestein et al., 2018).”

    From Understanding online grooming: An interpretative phenomenological analysis of adolescents' offline meetings with adult perpetrators (2022) · cites this paper as Groenestein et al., 2018

    Section 4.2.1 reports that 43% of participants correctly judged whether the stranger was a peer or an adult; 14% judged incorrectly and 43% were unsure. Section 5.1 says most girls were confident in their ability, but it does not establish that more than half individually overestimated it. The confidence finding and the accuracy test came from separate studies, not the same survey. (LLM, conf=0.86)

    Experimental — accuracy not yet measured

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Authors
Groenestein, E., Baas, N., van Deursen, A. J. A. M., & de Jong, M. D. T.
Affiliations
  • University of Twente (NL)
  • Department of Communication Science, University of Twente, Enschede, The Netherlands
Corresponding author
Baas, Niels
ORCID
Groenestein, Ellen
Venue
Information, Communication & Society
Publisher
Informa UK Limited
Published
2017-04-18
Volume
21
Issue
8
Pages
1168-1185
ISSN
  • 1369-118X (ISSN-L)
  • 1468-4462
DOI
10.1080/1369118x.2017.1309443
OpenAlex
W2605789661
Cited by
13
References
31
Citations by year
2026: 1 · 2025: 3 · 2023: 1 · 2022: 4 · 2021: 2 · 2020: 1 · 2017: 1
FWCI
0.89
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Licence
Locations
  • Information Communication & Society (publishedVersion, cc-by-nc-nd)
  • University of Twente Research Information (submittedVersion, cc-by-nc-nd)
  • Data Archiving and Networked Services (DANS) (submittedVersion, other-oa)
Topics
  • Health Sciences › Health Professions › General Health Professions › Adolescent Sexual and Reproductive Health
  • Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Impact of Technology on Adolescents
  • Physical Sciences › Computer Science › Human-Computer Interaction › Digital Communication and Language
Keywords
adolescent girls, age estimation, sexual solicitation, online dating, uncertainty reduction, language cues, sexual risk

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