Life impact following childhood Image-Based Sexual Abuse victimization among a sample of young adults.

PURPOSE

Image-Based Sexual Abuse (IBSA) is a pervasive issue affecting children and adolescents, with significant emotional and psychological consequences. This study examines how incident-level factors-including the victim's age, gender and sexual minority identity, type of IBSA, and duration of the IBSA-affect the perceived severity of psychological impact in young adulthood.

METHODS

Data included 6204 participants aged 18-28; of them, 2833 reported experiencing IBSA, contributing a total of 4205 unique incidents, as some participants described multiple episodes. Participants completed an online survey designed to oversample sexual and gender minority (SGM) individuals. Incident characteristics, such asrelationship with ther person responsible, type of IBSA, duration, and explicitness of material, were analyzed alongside demographic variables to assess their relationship with lasting psychological effect. Logistic regression models with robust standard errors accounted for incidents clustered within individuals.

RESULTS

The analysis of 4205 IBSA incidents revealed that in 29 % of incidents, victims reported significant or devastating life impact in adulthood. Factors associated with greater odds of lasting impact included younger age at first IBSA, longer incident duration, and incidents involving the non-consensual taking or sharing of images. SGM individuals showed nuanced patterns of impact, with certaindynamics of the person responsible (e.g., adult dating partners) disproportionately affecting SGM youth.

DISCUSSION

Findings highlight the complex interplay between incident characteristics and victim demographics in shaping the psychological outcomes of IBSA in young adulthood. Results underscore the need for tailored prevention and intervention strategies addressing both the immediate and long-term effects of IBSA, particularly for vulnerable populations such as SGM youth. Future research should explore additional factors unique to these groups to inform effective policy and support systems.