Purpose
Sexting has stirred debate over its legality and safety, but few researchers have documented the relationship between sexting and health. We describe the sexting behavior of young adults in the United States, and examine its association with sexual behavior and psychological well-being.
Methods
Using an adapted web version of Respondent-Driven Sampling (webRDS) we recruited a sample of U.S. young adults (ages 18 to 24; N=3447). We examined participant sexting behavior using 4 categories of sexting: 1) Non-Sexters, 2) Receivers, 3) Senders, and 4) Two-way Sexters. We then assessed the relationships between sexting categories and sociodemographic characteristics, sexual behavior and psychological well-being.
Results
Over half (57%) of respondents were Non-Sexters, 28.2% of the sample were Two-way Sexters, 12.6% were Receivers, and 2% were Senders. Males were more likely to be Receivers than females. Sexually active respondents were more likely to be Two-way Sexters than non-sexually active respondents. Among participants who were sexually active in the past 30 days, we found no differences across sexting groups in number of sexual partners, or number of unprotected sex partners in the past 30 days. We also found no relationship between sexting and psychological well-being.
Conclusions
Our results suggest that sexting is not related to sexual risk behavior or psychological well-being. We discuss the findings of this study and propose directions for further research on sexting.
Trust is a critical focus for HIV/STI informatics interventions for young African Americans. Our design framework offers practical, culturally relevant, and systematic guidance to designers to reach this underserved group better.
Researchers have documented that vacant lot greening can reduce community‐level crime and violence. Busy Streets Theory (BST) suggests that residents who are involved in the greening process can help to improve physical environments and build social connections that deter crime and violence. Yet few researchers have explored how community engagement in the greening process may affect crime and violence outcomes. We applied BST to test the effects of community‐engaged vacant lot greening compared to vacant lots that received either professional mowing or no treatment, on the density of violent crime around study lots. Using mixed effects regression models, we analyzed trends in violent crime density over the summer months from 2016 to 2018 at 2102 street segments in Youngstown, OH. These street segments fell within 150 meters of an intervention parcel that was classified as one of three conditions: community‐engaged maintenance, professional mowing, or no treatment (control). We found that street segments in areas receiving community‐engaged maintenance or professional mowing experienced greater declines in violent crime density than street segments in areas receiving no treatment, and more decline occurred in the community‐engaged condition compared to the professional mow condition. Our findings support BST and suggest that community‐engaged greening of vacant lots in postindustrial cities with a concentrated vacancy can reduce crime and violence.
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