Online hate speech among adolescents: Theory, research, and recommendations

Online hate speech (OHS) poses a significant threat to young people's online experiences due to its potential to cause adverse outcomes regarding their mental health and well-being. This brief report provides an overview of recent research investigating OHS, including its prevalence, definitional issues, theoretical frameworks, and correlates and outcomes of OHS involvement. While several definitions of OHS exist, initial attempts to elaborate an evidence-based definition have been made in recent years. However, the distinct aspects of OHS included in existing definitions may be challenging to assess. Regarding OHS assessment, an additional limitation lies in adopting single-item measures, which entails reliability and validity issues. Moreover, previous findings are mainly cross-sectional, limiting our understanding of OHS's predictors and outcomes. Despite these limitations, the extant literature builds on solid theoretical frameworks while investigating several protective and risk factors, including moral disengagement, self-efficacy, and parental mediation. Nevertheless, much remains to be done in terms of defining OHS based on bottom-up approaches and in terms of translating knowledge into evidence-based prevention. Moving beyond current approaches, future programs are encouraged to prevent OHS through counterspeech while adopting a multicomponent approach. The chapter outlines suggestions for future research directions and recommendations for practitioners working with adolescents.