Walsh Australian Child Maltreatment Study (ACMS) Online Victimization
Study details from the Studies index, with sources and citations for each field.
Notes · Probability (ACMS); ages 16-24 sub-sample of ACMS asked about under-18 experiences.
References
Walsh et al. (2025)— Journal article
Walsh, K., Mathews, B., Parvin, K., Smith, R., Burton, M., Nicholas, M., Napier, S., Cubitt, T., Erskine, H., Thomas, H. J., Finkelhor, D., Higgins, D. J., Scott, J. G., Flynn, A., Noll, J., Malacova, E., Le, H., & Tran, N. (2025). Prevalence and characteristics of online child sexual victimization: Findings from the Australian Child Maltreatment Study. Child Abuse & Neglect, 160, 107186.
report- Retrieved from:
- https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chiabu.2024.107186
- Publication page:
- https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chiabu.2024.107186
- Retrieved on:
- 2026-05-31
- Pages:
- 12
- Archived source:
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Study details & methodology
| Name | “Prevalence and characteristics of online child sexual victimization: Findings from the Australian Child Maltreatment Study” |
| Country | “A nationally representative sample of 3500 individuals aged 16–24 years in Australia, comprising a sub-sample of participants in the Australian Child Maltreatment Study (ACMS).” |
| Publication year | “Child Abuse & Neglect 160 (2025) 107186” Published February 2025 in Child Abuse & Neglect, vol. 160 (epub 2024-12-06). |
| Fieldwork dates | “the Australian Child Maltreatment Study (ACMS), a nationally representative cross-sectional epidemiological survey conducted from April to October 2021.” ACMS parent survey fielded April–October 2021; the online-victimization sub-study reported here draws on the 16-24 sub-sample of that fielding. |
| Sample size | “A nationally representative sample of 3500 individuals aged 16–24 years in Australia, comprising a sub-sample of participants in the Australian Child Maltreatment Study (ACMS).” Focal sub-sample n=3,500 (1,662 young women, 1,748 young men, 90 diverse-gender; page 3). The parent ACMS sample is n=8,503 across age strata. |
| Age range | “The sub-sample of 3500 participants aged 16–24 years form the focal sub-sample for the current analyses.” Participants aged 16–24 reported experiences before age 18. Those aged 16 or 17 could report only through their age at interview. |
| Sampling | “The ACMS recruited a nationally representative random sample of 8503 Australians aged 16 years and older, comprising 3500 participants aged 16–24, and 1000 participants in each of five age-decade strata (25–34, 35–44, 45–54, 55–64, and 65 years and above). Invitations to participate in a computer-assisted telephone interview were distributed via an initial text message and subsequent call to mobile (cell) phones, using random digit dialing.” Random-digit-dial recruitment to mobile phones, followed by computer-assisted telephone interviews; sampling was stratified by age. |
Harms measured
| Non-Consensual Intimate Imagery (NCII) | “Interviewers prefaced the questions with a briefing that each item referred to experiences that occurred before they reached 18 years of age, and involved the use of mobile phones, texts, social media, or the internet.…” “Did anyone ever use the internet or a mobile phone to share sexual images of you without your consent?”Response options: yes/no/don't know/refuse Non-consensual sharing of sexual images of the respondent, by any perpetrator, before age 18. |
| Contact | “Interviewers prefaced the questions with a briefing that each item referred to experiences that occurred before they reached 18 years of age, and involved the use of mobile phones, texts, social media, or the internet.…” “Did an adult ever ask you over the internet or a mobile phone to talk about sex or send sexual images?”Response options: yes/no/don't know/refuse Online sexual solicitation by an adult perpetrator before the respondent reached age 18. |