Young People’s Behavior,Confidence,and Safety when Communicating Online about Self-Harm and Suicide: Development and Validation of the #Chatsafe Online Safety Scale

Abstract

Young people may search for, or be exposed to, self-harm- and suicide-related content on social media, and they sometimes use these platforms to communicate about their own experiences of self-harm and suicide. Preliminary evidence demonstrates exposure to self-harm and suicide-related content online has both protective and harmful effects. However, research in this area has been hindered by the lack of validated measures of young people’s behavior, confidence, and safety when communicating online about self-harm and suicide. This study seeks to address this by reporting on the development and validation of the #chatsafe Online Safety Scale in a sample of 535 adolescents and young adults aged 16 to 25 years (M = 21.81, SD = 2.41). Exploratory factor analysis and confirmatory factor analysis were performed to explore the factor structure of the scale and validate the measurement models. Multigroup analyses were performed to assess gender invariance, and Cronbach’s alpha was calculated to assess the internal consistency of each subscale. Results indicate that the scale has good factor structure, performs well across genders, and demonstrates good internal consistency. This study provides preliminary validation of the #chatsafe Online Safety Scale and suggests it can be used in studies exploring young people’s online experiences and behaviors related to self-harm and suicide, providing a stronger and comparable evidence base to guide policy and practice.