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Cited by 9Psychopathy, Forensic Psychiatry, Sexual OffendingStalking, Cyberstalking, and HarassmentSexual Assault and Victimization Studies

Psychopathological aspects of sexting and IBSA perpetrators: A brief research report

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Gassó, Aina M., Forero, Carlos G., Piqueras, Jorge, Gómez-Durán, Esperanza L.·2022·Frontiers in Psychiatry
DOI 10.3389/fpsyt.2022.983881PMC PMC9556696
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Abstract

Introduction: IBSA has been defined as taking, distributing, and/or making threats to distribute, a sexual image without a person's consent, and up to date there is still limited research on IBSA perpetration and characteristics of IBSA perpetrators. Thus, the aim of this study was to identify characteristics of IBSA perpetrators, in order to guide future intervention and prevention programs. Methods: An online survey was conducted regarding IBSA related behaviors and psychopathology. The original sample comprised 1,370 Spanish college students (74% females). Results: The IBSA perpetrator subsample comprised 284 participants (49.5% females). Our findings indicate that perpetrators are more commonly males, with higher psychopathology scores, especially in hostility scales, with previous IBSA victimization experiences, and who usually target friends, to have fun or as a joke, or partners, to flirt. Furthermore, when examining intragroup differences regarding perpetration level of severity, results showed that those who reported engaging in the most severe forms of IBSA reported higher rates of psychopathology and hostility. Yet, to intervene in those who present more severe behaviors, we must also pay attention to depression, somatization and sleep disturbances. Conclusions: IBSA perpetrators share key factors that could be targeted in forensic and clinical interventions, and that should be taken into account when designing effective offender intervention programs. Intervention programs should focus on anger-management issues that help reduce perpetrators' hostility and anxiety symptoms, and should also be aimed at modifying attitudes that justify perpetration behaviors and contribute to harmful interactions with their friends or to intimate partner violent dynamics.

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  • Gassó et al. (2022) found 6.7% of respondents had threatened to share someone's intimate images (n = 1,370).

    “Gassó et al. (2022), who found that 6.7% of respondents had threatened to share someone’s intimate images (we calculated the percentage manually as it was not provided in the paper) (n = 1,370).”

    From Image-Based Sexual Abuse Perpetration: A Scoping Review (2024) · cites this paper as Gassó et al. (2022)

    Methods > Participants reports a sample of 1,370 Spanish college students, and Results discusses perpetrators who threatened others to send sexual content. It does not establish that 6.7% of respondents threatened to share someone else’s intimate images; the 6.7% in Results, Table 2, concerns non-perpetrators’ perceived risk of taking and sending content without consent. (LLM, conf=0.88)

    Experimental — accuracy not yet measured

  • Gassó et al. (2022) found most common motivation for sexting coercion was to flirt (55.7%), or for fun (41.0%).

    “Gassó et al. (2022) found that the most common motivation for sexting coercion was to flirt (55.7%), or for fun (41.0%).”

    From Image-Based Sexual Abuse Perpetration: A Scoping Review (2024) · cites this paper as Gassó et al. (2022)

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Authors
Gassó, A. M., Forero, C. G., Piqueras, J., & Gómez-Durán, E. L.
Affiliations
Universitat Internacional de Catalunya (ES)
Corresponding author
Gassó, Aina M.
ORCID
Venue
Frontiers in Psychiatry
Publisher
Frontiers Media SA
Published
2022-09-29
Volume
13
Pages
983881-983881
ISSN
1664-0640 (ISSN-L)
DOI
10.3389/fpsyt.2022.983881
PMC
PMC9556696
OpenAlex
W4298005538
Cited by
9
References
2
Citations by year
2026: 2 · 2025: 2 · 2024: 4 · 2023: 1
FWCI
1.60
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Licence
Locations
  • Frontiers in Psychiatry (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • PubMed Central (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • Hispana (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals) (submittedVersion, cc-by-sa)
Funders
Fundación Mapfre
Topics
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Psychopathy, Forensic Psychiatry, Sexual Offending
  • Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Stalking, Cyberstalking, and Harassment
  • Social Sciences › Gender Studies › Sexual Assault and Victimization Studies
Keywords
IBSA, sexting, offender characteristics, psychopathology, hostility, depression, somatization, sleep disorders, victimization history, university students, anger management, offender intervention, intimate partner violence

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