Online sexual exposure, cyberbullying victimization and suicidal ideation among Hong Kong adolescents: Moderating effects of gender and sexual orientation

Abstract Despite the increasing use of electronic devices, the associations between specific online involvement, such as online sexual exposure and cyberbullying victimization, and suicide risk are under-explored among young people. This study examines whether online sexual exposure and cyberbullying victimization are associated with suicide ideation among Hong Kong adolescents and whether gender and sexual orientation influence the associations. Online sexual exposure was categorized as online sexual talk and online sexual dating. A hierarchical regression analysis was employed to examine the relationships between the two types of online sexual exposure and cyberbullying victimization and suicide ideation, as well as the moderating roles of gender and sexual orientation on the relationships. Among the 3772 participants, adolescents with experiences of sexual talk online, sexual dating online, and cyberbullying victimization had 1.34-, 1.28-, and 2.16-times higher odds to have suicide ideation than their counterparts, respectively. There were significant gender differences in the association between cyberbullying victimization and suicide ideation, stronger in girls (p ​