Smartphone Addiction, Social Support, and Cybercrime Victimization: A Discrete Survival and Growth Mixture Model

In recent decades, criminological theories have identified a set of vulnerabilities in potential victims that seek to explain their victimization. When it comes to explaining cybercrime victimization, however, the important role that addiction to the vulnerabilities associated with technological devices can play has tended to be overlooked. In this paper we empirically link smartphone addiction, social support, and cyberfraud victimization in a nationally representative sample of 716 smartphone users followed for three years. The results of discrete survival and growth mixture models suggest that the probability of cyberfraud victimization is lower among users with a decrease in smartphone addiction and an increase in social support over the three years. These results allow us to suggest new avenues in the study of cybercrime victimization, with special emphasis on the psychosocial consequences that the deregulated use of these technological devices may entail. (AU)

En las últimas décadas, las teorías criminológicas han identificado una serie de vulnerabilidades en las víctimas potenciales que tratan de explicar su victimización. Sin embargo, cuando se trata de explicar la victimización por ciberdelincuencia, se ha tendido a pasar por alto el importante papel que puede desempeñar la adicción a los dispositivos tecnológicos y sus consecuencias psicosociales. En este trabajo relacionamos empíricamente la adicción a los smartphones, el apoyo social y la victimización por ciberdelincuencia en una muestra representativa a nivel nacional de 716 usuarios a los que se siguió durante tres años. Los resultados de los modelos de curvas de supervivencia para tiempo discreto y mixtura de crecimiento latente sugieren que la probabilidad de victimización por ciberfraude es menor entre los usuarios con una disminución de la adicción a los teléfonos inteligentes y un aumento del apoyo social a lo largo de los tres años. Estos resultados nos permiten sugerir nuevas vías en el estudio de la victimización por ciberdelincuencia, con especial énfasis en las consecuencias psicosociales que puede conllevar el uso desregulado de estos dispositivos tecnológicos. (AU)

Smartphone Addiction, Social Support, and Cybercrime Victimization: A Discrete Survival and Growth Mixture Model.

In recent decades, criminological theories have identified a set of vulnerabilities in potential victims that seek to explain their victimization. When it comes to explaining cybercrime victimization, however, the important role that addiction to the vulnerabilities associated with technological devices can play has tended to be overlooked. In this paper we empirically link smartphone addiction, social support, and cyberfraud victimization in a nationally representative sample of 716 smartphone users followed for three years. The results of discrete survival and growth mixture models suggest that the probability of cyberfraud victimization is lower among users with a decrease in smartphone addiction and an increase in social support over the three years. These results allow us to suggest new avenues in the study of cybercrime victimization, with special emphasis on the psychosocial consequences that the deregulated use of these technological devices may entail.

En las últimas décadas, las teorías criminológicas han identificado una serie de vulnerabilidades en las víctimas potenciales que tratan de explicar su victimización. Sin embargo, cuando se trata de explicar la victimización por ciberdelincuencia, se ha tendido a pasar por alto el importante papel que puede desempeñar la adicción a los dispositivos tecnológicos y sus consecuencias psicosociales. En este trabajo relacionamos empíricamente la adicción a los smartphones, el apoyo social y la victimización por ciberdelincuencia en una muestra representativa a nivel nacional de 716 usuarios a los que se siguió durante tres años. Los resultados de los modelos de curvas de supervivencia para tiempo discreto y mixtura de crecimiento latente sugieren que la probabilidad de victimización por ciberfraude es menor entre los usuarios con una disminución de la adicción a los teléfonos inteligentes y un aumento del apoyo social a lo largo de los tres años. Estos resultados nos permiten sugerir nuevas vías en el estudio de la victimización por ciberdelincuencia, con especial énfasis en las consecuencias psicosociales que puede conllevar el uso desregulado de estos dispositivos tecnológicos.

Smartphone Addiction and Cybercrime Victimization in the Context of Lifestyles Routine Activities and Self-Control Theories: The User's Dual Vulnerability Model of Cybercrime Victimization.

(1) Background: This paper combines lifestyle-routine activities (L-RAT) and self-control (SCT) theories along with the literature on smartphone addiction in a joint model that addresses the multiple vulnerabilities that make the smartphone user a potential victim of cybercrime. This model, which we call the dual vulnerability model of cybercrime victimization, was subjected to empirical testing on a nationally representative sample of smartphone users. (2) Methods: Data from 2837 participants from a nationally representative sample of Spanish smartphone users were modeled using Mplus causal modeling software. (3) Results: The results of the study confirm the predictions of L-RAT and SCT in explaining cybercrime victimization (higher cybercrime victimization under conditions of high exposure, proximity, and suitability, relative absence of capable guardian, and low self-control). A significant effect of smartphone addiction on cybercrime victimization was also observed above and beyond L-RAT and SCT predictors. (4) Conclusions: The potential victim of cybercrime presents a double vulnerability, on the one hand, those identified by criminological theories such as L-RAT and SCT, and on the other hand, those derived from the deregulated-addicted use of the Internet access device (smartphone in our work).

Smartphone addiction and social support: a three-year longitudinal study / Adicción a los teléfonos inteligentes y apoyo social: un estudio longitudinal durante tres años

For some years now, scholars have been exploring some of the negative consequences for the psychosocial well-being of users that the rapid incorporation of smartphones into our lives has caused. Most of the empirical studies to date are cross-sectional and are carried out with participants from convenience samples, which has been a limitation in this field. In this study, we evaluated the evolution over three years of smartphone addiction and social support in 241 Spanish users of a representative national sample. The results of the analysis of latent growth and growth mixture modeling indicate that both trajectories are interconnected: the more addiction decreases, the more social support increases. In addition, high levels of addiction and relatively low levels of support remained stable over time in a group of users. Users of this high-addiction group would represent a trend in the digital society characterized by higher rates of loneliness and technological dependence

Desde hace algunos años los estudiosos han venido explorando algunas de las consecuencias negativas que la rápida incorporación de los teléfonos inteligentes en nuestra vida ha tenido en el bienestar psicosocial de los usuarios. La mayoría de los estudios empíricos hasta la fecha son de corte transversal y se realizan con participantes de muestras de conveniencia, lo que ha sido una limitación en este campo. En este estudio evaluamos la evolución durante tres años de la adicción a teléfonos inteligentes y el apoyo social en 241 usuarios españoles de una muestra nacional representativa. Los resultados del análisis del modelado del crecimiento y modelado de la mezcla de crecimiento indican que ambas trayectorias están interconectadas: a medida que aumenta la adicción aumenta el apoyo social. Además, los altos niveles de adicción y los niveles relativamente bajos de apoyo se mantuvieron estables en el tiempo en un grupo de usuarios. Los usuarios de este grupo de elevada adicción representarían una tendencia en la sociedad digital caracterizada por mayores índices de soledad y dependencia tecnológica

When Violence Can Appear With Different Male Partners: Identification of Resilient and Non-resilient Women in the European Union.

Introduction: Little scholarly attention has been paid to the analysis of the history of intimate partner violence (IPV) against women with different male partners and how it could be related to levels of IPV with the current male partner. From this point of view, been a victim of IPV could increase the vulnerability of women and, therefore, exert a negative influence on the selection of partners over time, thus increasing the odds of potentially mating with abusive male partners. Alternatively, for some women victims of IPV in previous relationships, there may be additional resources that reduce their vulnerability to victimization by new partners. Methodology: The present study analyzes levels of IPV in different partners of 2376 heterosexual women from the 28 countries of the European Union living together as a couple who had previously lived with a different male partner. Analysis/Discussion: Multilevel regression results indicated that resilient women were younger, more satisfied with household income, and were involved in shorter relationships. As for their previous levels of victimization, they scored lower on child abuse and non-partner adult victimization. Also, their levels of victimization from previous partners were the same as those of the non-resilient women, with the exception of physical IPV victimization where resilient women scored higher than non-resilient women. Resilient women also informed the interviewer to have ended the abusive relationship because of the violence to a greater extent than non-resilient women and seemed to suffer fewer psychological difficulties due to previous violent relationships. Finally, countries scoring higher on human development index (HDI) showed a larger proportion of resilient women. Conclusion: Resilient women are mostly characterized by fewer psychological difficulties and lower frequency of adverse situations (in childhood or in adulthood) when compared to non-resilient women. Although resilient women reported a higher physical IPV, they nevertheless show fewer psychological sequelae and a greater ability to end abusive relationships. In addition, the human development of the countries in which they live also seems to reinforce their resilience, which suggests combining intervention policies at the individual and contextual levels.