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Adolescents who ‘sexted’ more likely to engage in sexual behavior
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Middle school students who commonly participated in sexting also engaged in sexual behavior, according to recent study findings published in Pediatrics.
Sexting is when someone sends sexually explicit messages or images by cellphone.
“The fact that those who sexted stand out regarding sexual risk in this at-risk sample selected due to emotional or behavioral symptoms is important,” the researchers wrote. “More work is needed to better define the link between behavioral and emotional symptoms and sexting during adolescence.”
Christopher D. Houck, PhD, of the Bradley Hasbro Children’s Research Center in Providence, R.I., and colleagues evaluated 410 adolescents aged 12 to 14 years to determine the association of sexting behaviors and sexual behaviors.
Overall, 22% reported sexting in the past 6 months. Of those, 17% sent texts only and 5% sent photos and texts. Five percent sent pictures by phone, 19% sent messages by phone, 2% sent pictures by Internet, and 9% sent messages by Internet.
Compared with adolescents who reported no sexting, those who did were more likely to engage in sexual behaviors. Those who reported sexting with photos were more likely to engage in sexual behaviors compared with those who just texted. Participants had more difficulty with emotional competence when they reported sexting.
“Educating young people about possible consequences of sexting, strategies for maintaining healthy relationships, and the relationship of sexting to other risk behaviors may reduce adolescent risk,” the researchers wrote. “Affect regulation and risk-related cognitions, both of which significantly differed among those who sexted in this study, may also represent important avenues for risk reduction interventions.”
Disclosure: The study was funded in part by the Lifespan/Brown/Tufts Center for AIDS Research, NIH, and the National Institute of Mental Health.
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