TITLE:
Development of an Online Risk Scale for High School Students
AUTHORS:
Tomoyuki Kanetsuna, Akihiko Ieshima, Yuichi Toda
KEYWORDS:
Scale Development, Online Risk Perception, Online Anonymity, Internet De-pendency, High School Students
JOURNAL NAME:
Psychology,
Vol.14 No.12,
December
22,
2023
ABSTRACT:
The behavioral aspects of children’s internet usage have been
well-researched; however, the psychological
aspects of related issues, such as children’s awareness of online risks and problems, remain
underexplored. To analyze students’ perception of the risks associated with
internet use, we developed an Online Risk Perception Scale comprising 12
items related to sensitivity to online trouble, online anonymity, and internet
dependency.The
scale was then distributed to 1264 students from three high schools in Japan. The results of the reliability and multi-group confirmatory factor
analyses indicated that the scale demonstrated reasonable reliability. Some
variations among the participating schools were also observed, which may be
attributed to the schools’ risk awareness programs and preventive measures
related to problematic online behaviors.
This study also examined the relationship between the scale and students’ actual experiences of online
perpetration, victimization, and excessive internet use. However, no
clear results were obtained, indicating the need for further investigation.