Close online relationships in a national sample of adolescents

Adolescence, Fall, 2002 by Janis Wolak, Kimberly J. Mitchell, David Finkelhor

Table 1

Youth and Household Characteristics

                                                    Youths with close
                                      All youths   online relationships
Characteristic                       (N = 1, 501)       (n = 258)

Age of youth
     10                                   4%                2%
     11                                   8%                3%
     12                                  11%                5%
     13                                  15%               14%
     14                                  16%               15%
     15                                  18%               24%
     16                                  17%               19%
     17                                  13%               18%

Mean age                                14.14             14.75

Sex of youth
     Male                                53%               48%
     Female                              47%               51%

Race of youth
      Non-Hispanic White                 73%               79%
      African-American                   10%                7%
      American Indian or Alaska Nat       3%                1%
      Asian                               3%                2%
      Hispanic White                      2%                3%
      Other                               7%                6%
      Don't know/refused to answer        2%                1%

Marital status of parent/guardian
       Married                           79%               76%
       Divorced                          10%               13%
       Single/never married               5%                6%
       Living with partner                1%                1%
       Separated                          2%                2%
       Widowed                            2%                2%

Youth lives with both biological
 parents                                 64%               61%

Highest level of completed
 education in household
      Not a high school graduate          2%                2%
      High school graduate               21%               22%
      Some college education             22%               24%
      College graduate                   31%               32%
      Postcollege degree                 22%               20%

Annual household income
      Less than $20,000                   8%                8%
      $20,000 to $50,000                 38%               39%
      $50,001 to $75,000                 23%               25%
      More than $75,000                  23%               22%

Type of community
      Small town                         28%               33%
      Suburb of large city               21%               18%
      Rural area                         20%               16%
      Large town (25,000 to 100,000      15%               16%
      Large city                         14%               15%


Note. Primary caretakers provided demographic information, except fo
race which was provided by the youths. Some categories do not add to
100% because of rounding and/or missing data.

Table 2

Characteristics of Close Online Relationships with Face-to-Face Meetings
Compared to Those with No Face-to-Face Meetings

                                                No face-to-face
                                        All         meeting
Characteristic                       (n = 246)     (n = 145)

Gender of youth
     Male                               47%           42%
     Female                             52%           58%
Age of youth
     10                                  2%            3%
     11                                  4%            1%
     12                                  5%            6%
     13                                 14%           14%
     14                                 15%           18%
     15                                 24%           24%
     16                                 18%           16%
     17                                 18%           18%
Mean age                               14.71         14.75

Age range of online friends
     10 through 13                      16%           15%
     14 through 17                      67%           66%
     18 through 24                      13%           16%
     25 through 44                       2%            3%

Age difference of youth and online
 friend
     Friend 2 or 3 years younger         4%            4%
     Same or within 1 year in age       70%           63%
     Friend 2, 3 or 4 years older       18%           23%
     Friend 5 or more years older        8%           10%

Boy-girl or girl-boy relationship       71%           73%

Types of relationships
     Close friendship                   75%           98%
     Romantic                            7%            9%
     Face-to-face meeting               41%            -

Parties met online
     In a chat room                     59%           68%
     Using instant messages             22%           17%
     Through e-mail                      8%            5%
     In a gaming site                    5%            5%
     Other                               6%            5%

What brought them together
     Same interest                      64%           70%
     Through family/friend              32%           21%
     Getting information                 4%            3%

Online friend lived within one-hour     31%            9%
 drive (n = 210)

Offline contact (multiple answers
 possible)
     Online friend sent mail            58%           57%
     Online friend called on            38%           18%
      telephone
No offline contact by mail or           30%           40%
 telephone

Parent knew about relationship          74%           69%

Relationship was sexual in any way       2%            1%

Online friend did something to make      2%            1%
 youth feel uncomfortable

                                     Face-to-face
                                       mettings
Characteristic                        (n = 101)

Gender of youth
     Male                                55%
     Female                              45% *
Age of youth
     10                                   1%
     11                                   7%
     12                                   3%
     13                                  14%
     14                                  12%
     15                                  25%
     16                                  21%
     17                                  18%
Mean age                                14.68

Age range of online friends
     10 through 13                       18%
     14 through 17                       70%
     18 through 24                       10%
     25 through 44                        2%

Age difference of youth and online
 friend
     Friend 2 or 3 years younger          3%
     Same or within 1 year in age        81% **
     Friend 2, 3 or 4 years older        11% *
     Friend 5 or more years older         5%

Boy-girl or girl-boy relationship        71%

Types of relationships
     Close friendship                    43% ***
     Romantic                             5%
     Face-to-face meeting                all

Parties met online
     In a chat room                      47%
     Using instant messages              30%
     Through e-mail                      12%
     In a gaming site                     3%
     Other                                7%

What brought them together
     Same interest                       55% *
     Through family/friend               49% ***
     Getting information                 11% *

Online friend lived within one-hour      71% ***
 drive (n = 210)

Offline contact (multiple answers
 possible)
     Online friend sent mail             58%
     Online friend called on             66% ***
      telephone
No offline contact by mail or            16% ***
 telephone

Parent knew about relationship           81% *

Relationship was sexual in any way        3%

Online friend did something to make       3%
 youth feel uncomfortable

Note. 246 youths answered a series of questions about a close online
relationship.

* p [less than or equal to].05

** p [less than or equal to].01

*** p [less than or equal to].001.

Table 3

Characteristics of Face-To-Face Meetings

                                        Face-to-face
Characteristics                      meetings (n = 101)

Youth told parent about first               60%
 face-to-face meeting
Youth told friend about first               29%
 face-to-face meeting, but not
 parent
Youth told no one about first               10%
 face-to-face meeting
Someone accompanied youth to first          77%
 face-to-face meeting
Youth was accompanied by (n = 78)
     Friend                                 71%
     Parent                                 13%
     Sibling or other relative              13%
     Other                                   4%
Meeting was within one-hour drive           82%
 of where youth lived
Meeting occurred at
     Public place, like mall, pa            71%
      sports event
     Youth's home                            5%
     Someone else's home                    10%
     Other                                  12%
Online friend did not look the way          21%
 youth expected
What was different than youth
 expected
     Age                                     4%
     Height or weight                       12%
     How face looked                        15%
     The way they dressed                    8%
Online friend did something to make          1%
 youth afraid at meeting
Youth was physically or sexually             0%
 assaulted by online friend