IMPORTANCEThe existing literature on sexting among youth shows that sexting is a predictor of sexual behavior and may be associated with other health outcomes and risky behaviors. However, there remains a lack of consensus on the prevalence of sexting, which is needed to inform future research, intervention, and policy development.OBJECTIVE To provide a meta-analytic synthesis of studies examining the prevalence of multiple forms of sexting behavior, analyzed by age, sex, geography, and method of sexting.DATA SOURCES In an academic setting, electronic searches in MEDLINE, PsycINFO, EMBASE, and Web of Science were conducted for the period January 1990 to June 2016, yielding 1147 nonduplicate records.STUDY SELECTION Studies were included if participants were younger than 18 years and the prevalence of sexting explicit images, videos, or messages was reported.DATA EXTRACTION AND SYNTHESIS Literature review and data extraction followed established PRISMA guidelines. Two independent reviewers extracted all relevant data. Random-effects meta-analyses were used to derive the mean prevalence rates. Thirty-nine studies met final inclusion criteria.MAIN OUTCOMES AND MEASURES Meta-analyses of the prevalence of sending, receiving, and forwarding without consent, as well as having one's sext forwarded without consent. RESULTS Among 39 included studies, there were 110 380 participants; the mean age was 15.16 years (age range, 11.9-17.0 years), and on average 47.2% were male. Studies were available for sending (n = 34), receiving (n = 20), forwarding without consent (n = 5), and having a sext forwarded without consent (n = 4). The mean prevalences for sending and receiving sexts were 14.8% (95% CI, 12.8%-16.8%) and 27.4% (95% CI, 23.1%-31.7%), respectively. Moderator analyses revealed that effect sizes varied as a function of child age (prevalence increased with age), year of data collection (prevalence increased over time), and sexting method (higher prevalence on mobile devices compared with computers). The prevalence of forwarding a sext without consent was 12.0% (95% CI, 8.4%-15.6%), and the prevalence of having a sext forwarded without consent was 8.4% (95% CI, 4.7%-12.0%). CONCLUSIONS AND RELEVANCEThe prevalence of sexting has increased in recent years and increases as youth age. Further research focusing on nonconsensual sexting is necessary to appropriately target and inform intervention, education, and policy efforts.

It has long been claimed that “maltreatment begets maltreatment,” that is, a parent's history of maltreatment increases the risk that his or her child will also suffer maltreatment. However, significant methodological concerns have been raised regarding evidence supporting this assertion, with some arguing that the association weakens in samples with higher methodological rigor. In the current study, the intergenerational transmission of maltreatment hypothesis is examined in 142 studies (149 samples; 227,918 dyads) that underwent a methodological quality review, as well as data extraction on a number of potential moderator variables. Results reveal a modest association of intergenerational maltreatment (k= 80;d= 0.45, 95% confidence interval; CI [0.37, 0.54]). Support for the intergenerational transmission of specific maltreatment types was also observed (neglect:k= 13,d= 0.24, 95% CI [0.11, 0.37]; physical abuse:k= 61,d= 0.41, 95% CI [0.33, 0.49]; emotional abuse:k= 18,d= 0.57, 95% CI [0.43, 0.71]; sexual abuse:k= 18,d= 0.39, 95% CI [0.24, 0.55]). Methodological quality only emerged as a significant moderator of the intergenerational transmission of physical abuse, with a weakening of effect sizes as methodological rigor increased. Evidence from this meta-analysis confirms the cycle of maltreatment hypothesis, although effect sizes were modest. Future research should focus on deepening understanding of mechanisms of transmission, as well as identifying protective factors that can effectively break the cycle of maltreatment.

Sexting is the sharing of sexually explicit images, videos, and/or messages via electronic devices. Prevalence estimates of sexting have varied substantially, potentially due to broad age ranges being examined. The current study sought to synthesize relevant findings examining the prevalence of consensual and non-consensual sexting in a specific developmental period, emerging adulthood (≥ 18-< 29), to try to explain discrepancies in the literature. Searches were conducted in electronic databases for articles published up to April 2018. Relevant data from 50 studies with 18,122 emerging adults were extracted. The prevalence of sexting behaviors were: sending 38.3% (k = 41; CI 32.0-44.6), receiving 41.5% (k = 19; CI 31.9-51.2), and reciprocal sexting 47.7% (k = 16;). Thus, sexting is a common behavior among emerging adults. The prevalence of non-consensual forwarding of sexts was also frequent in emerging adults at 15.0% (k = 7; CI 6.9-23.2). Educational awareness initiatives on digital citizenship and psychological consequences of the non-consensual forwarding of sexts should be targeted to youth and emerging adults with the hopes of mitigating this potentially damaging and illegal behavior.

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Background and aimsSubstantial research has examined the role of personality in disordered gambling. The predominant model in this work has been the five-factor model (FFM) of personality. In this study, we examined the personality correlates of gambling engagement and gambling severity using a six-dimensional framework known as the HEXACO model of personality, which incorporates FFM characteristics with the addition of honesty–humility. In addition, the potential mediating role of gambling motives in the personality and gambling severity relationship was explored.MethodsA sample of undergraduate gamblers (n = 183) and non-gamblers (n = 143) completed self-report measures of the Problem Gambling Severity Index (PGSI) and the Gambling Motives Questionnaire-Financial, as well as self- and observer report forms of the HEXACO-100.ResultsLogistic regression results revealed that scores on honesty–humility were positively associated with non-gambling over gambling status. Furthermore, it was also found that honesty–humility, agreeableness, and conscientiousness were each uniquely associated with PGSI severity scores. The results of the mediational analyses suggest that each personality factor has different gambling motivational paths leading to PGSI gambling severity.Discussion and conclusionsThe findings of this study contribute to the literature on behavioral addictions by providing an increased understanding of individual personality factors associated with likelihood of gambling, overall gambling severity, and gambling motives. Ultimately, these findings suggest that the honesty–humility dimension may be a target for the prevention efforts against problematic gambling outcomes.

Personality dimensions have been found to be important in understanding the aetiology of disordered gambling. While the majority of research has focused on the Five-Factor Model of personality, recent empirical evidence also indicated that the honesty-humility factor of the HEXACO personality model may be a key personality correlate of gambling behaviour. In the present research, we extend the understanding between personality and gambling severity by further assessing whether HEXACO dimensions are associated with both current gambling status and gambling severity in a community-recruited sample of gamblers (N = 427). In addition, we examined whether motivations to engage in gambling (enhancement, coping, social and financial) mediated the relationship between personality and gambling severity on the Problem Gambling Severity Index. Demographic covariates were controlled for in our analyses. The results indicate that honesty-humility was the only personality dimension that significantly predicted gambling status (non-gamblers vs. current gamblers). In addition, lower scores on honesty-humility, conscientiousness and openness were significantly associated with gambling severity. Lastly, coping motives were the only significant mediator in the relationship between honesty-humility and increased gambling severity. The results offer further support to the notion that honesty-humility may be an especially pertinent personality dimension in understanding the aetiology of disordered gambling. © 2018 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Motivational models have been shown to usefully describe reasons for engaging in addictive behaviors including gambling disorder. Although most scales designed to measure motives have been derived statistically, self-generated open-ended responses have also shown utility for identifying unique motives for gambling. While the motivational structure for gambling disorder has been extensively explored, there has been a paucity of research examining motives for choosing not to gamble. This is not the case for other addictive behaviors such as alcohol use where motives for abstaining from drinking have been well defined. The primary goal of this study was to qualitatively explore and identify motives for not gambling in a sample of young adult non-gamblers using open-ended responses. A sample (N = 196) of undergraduate current non-gamblers, defined as no gambling activity over the previous 12 months, completed a series of questionnaires on demographics, gambling behavior, and alcohol consumption. Furthermore, they were asked to provide their top three reasons for not gambling in rank order. The results revealed eight specific motives for why participants chose not to gamble: 'financial reasons and risk aversion'; 'disinterest and other priorities'; 'personal and religious convictions'; 'addiction concerns'; 'influence of others' values'; 'awareness of the odds'; 'lack of access, opportunity, or skill'; and 'emotional distress'. Personal and religious convictions reasons were also related to lifetime non-drinking, suggesting that these motives are associated with decreased addictive behaviors in general. Ultimately, these results may help to inform the design of prevention strategies for gambling disorder.

Many social networking site (SNS) users regret previous posts and post sensitive content despite the potential for negative consequences. Limited research has examined regret among SNS users, and it is unclear whether regret differs between text and graphic formats. An online survey of Australian SNS users (N = 995), compared regretted text to photo and video posts by examining demographic characteristics, psychological antecedents, post content, and consequences of posting. Feelings of regret were similar; however, regretted photo/video posts reported were related to a positive mood when posting, social motivations, and most frequently resulted in personal consequences (e.g., embarrassment). In comparison, regretted text posts were motivated by negative mood states and were more likely to result in social consequences. There might be a disconnection between what users hope to convey and how posts are perceived. SNS design that prompts users to consider the impacts of posts and to screen for offending content may reduce post regret. Interventions should encourage mindfulness of posting when upset and gaining self‐validation externally from SNS.