Abstract Introduction The purpose of this review is to explore the prevalence and impact of online sexual harassment (OSH) in adolescent populations. Moreover, this review considers characteristics of victims and perpetrators in relation to OSH. Methods A scoping review using PRISMA (Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses) guidelines was conducted in August 2023 using internet-based bibliographic databases (CINHAL, MEDLINE, PsycINFO and GoogleScholar). Search terms relating to ‘sexual harassment’, ‘online’ and ‘adolescents’ were used to discover studies published since 01.01.2000 that explored OSH in adolescent populations. Results Only 11 studies were identified to specifically investigate OSH in adolescents, with studies illustrating in-person SH to be more common than OSH. Nevertheless, studies reported OSH occurs in various forms and across a range of online platforms which can lead to damaging psychological and physical impacts in adolescents. Conclusions Our review shows that OSH during adolescence is a global issue that can have profound effects on an individual’s mental health and educational journey. Future research is still needed to fully explore this niche topic area as well as the long-term consequences of OSH for victims. Policy Implications Educating adolescents of what OSH is, how to interact with others safely online and develop healthy relationships would also be valuable to potentially reduce incidences of OSH. Our review shows that OSH during adolescence is a global issue that can have profound effects on an individual’s mental health and educational journey.
Thompson et al. (Sun,) studied this question.