Cybercrime Correlates Among Adolescents in Europe and South America: A Cross-National Analysis Based on Situational Action Theory

JANNE VEPSÄLÄINEN; MARKUS KAAKINEN; NOORA ELLONEN; KARIN ARBACH; MARINA REZENDE BAZON; NEAL HAZEL; JANNE KIVIVUORI; IZA KOKORAVEC; CAMILLA LØVSCHALL LANGELAND; ANNA MARKINA; GORAZD MEKO; JUAN ANTONIO RODRIGUEZ; MARGRÉT VALDIMARSDÓTTIR; ATTE OKSANEN

Journal of Contemporary Criminal Justice

Sage Publications

Año: 2025

1552-5406

Cybercrime is increasingly recognized as a global issue, with adolescents being a key group ascrime trends shift online. However, relatively little is known about the prevalence of cybercrime, itsspecific risk factors, and how they differ across high and low-middle-income countries. Thishighlights the need for more cross-national comparative studies on the cybercriminal behavior ofyoung people. This study examines the prevalence of four types of cybercrime (image-based abuse, online hate speech, cyberfraud, and hacking) among adolescents aged 13–17 in Europe and South America (N = 28,325). Utilizing data from the International Self-Report Delinquency Study 4(ISRD4), the analysis includes nine countries from Europe (Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Iceland,Lithuania, Norway, Slovenia, Sweden, and the United Kingdom) and three from South America(Argentina, Brazil, and Venezuela). According to our results, there is variation in adolescentcybercrime offending between countries and continents. Overall, cybercrime and hacking weremore common in South America, while image-based abuse was more prevalent among adolescents from Europe. Cybercrime was associated with low self-control, morality, and anticipated formal sanctions for cybercrimes, whereas Peer delinquency was associated with a higher likelihood of offending. In line with situational action theory (SAT), peer delinquency and anticipated formal sanctions for cybercrimes were associated with cybercrime only among those with low or average morality.