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The use of the Internet and new technologies now seems to permeate the entire society, affecting every aspect of daily life. Although this change is characterized by undeniable positive aspects, it simultaneously bears a number of risks which are higher especially with respect to the growing number of younger users. In fact, young people, as the most involved in cyber space, are an age group most exposed to the dangers of improper and not aware use of electronic tools. The specific aim of this research was to study unwanted online attentions (UOA) among a sample of Italian students (N=585, mean age=14.5), identifying UOA as all those behaviors carried out through the Internet and technology to annoy, disturb, offend, humiliate, intimidate, threat, harass, harm or attack others. The online questionnaire investigated the online habits of the students, the presence of UOA and the characteristics of victims and perpetrators, the perception and emotional impact of such conducts, and the victims' possible reactions. The findings offer an estimate of the prevalence of these behaviors in the population of this age group in the area considered. More importantly, the results reveal a very high involvement in technology by the students accompanied by a lack of awareness regarding the risks connected to technology use as well as a low perception of UOA. These results give evidence of the needs in terms of prevention and education instruments in order to improve the system of responses to cybervictimization among young people.

For young people, in addition to positive experiences, there are risks and negative consequences in the usage of the Internet and Information and Communication Technologies (ICT), such as forms of online harassment. At present, there is an open debate regarding the definition and issues concerning the nature of cyberspace, given the different ways that the scientific community and the general public express this phenomenon (for example, cyber-bullying, cyber-aggression, cyber-harassment). The present research surveyed 585 Italian students via an online questionnaire regarding unwanted online attentions (UOA), an umbrella category of online behaviours directed at harassing, offending or attacking someone. Two exploratory factor analyses examined the experiences of self-identified victims and perpetrators in order to better describe and identify UOA. The findings identify six dimensions, namely, for the victims: harassment, impersonation, denigration and ordering goods, physical threats, hacking, and disseminating private information and audio-video material without permission; and, for the perpetrators: disseminating private information and material without permission, physical and social threats, hacking and stealing identity, harassment, denigration and ordering goods, unwanted emails and spying, and impersonation – thus illuminating more specific categories of UOA. These findings will make it easier to recognize these expanding and potentially very dangerous behaviours, leading to the development of better prevention and intervention strategies.

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