The use of sexually explicit material (SEM) has become a part of adolescent sexual socialization, at least in the Western world. Adolescent and young people's SEM use has been associated with risky sexual behaviors, which has recently resulted in policy debates about restricting access to SEM. Such development seems to suggest a crisis of the preventive role of parental oversight. Based on the Differential Susceptibility to Media Effects Model, this study assessed the role of parental monitoring in the context of adolescent vulnerability to SEM-associated risky or potentially adverse outcomes (sexual activity, sexual aggressiveness, and sexting). Using an online sample of Croatian 16-year-olds (N = 1265) and structural equation modeling approach, parental monitoring was found consistently and negatively related to the problematic behavioral outcomes, regardless of participants' gender. While SEM use was related to sexual experience and sexting, higher levels of parental monitoring were associated with less frequent SEM use and lower acceptance of sexual permissiveness. Despite parents' fears about losing the ability to monitor their adolescent children's lives in the Internet era, there is evidence that parental engagement remains an important protective factor.
Sexting, the digital transmission of sexual messages and images, has become a topic of increased interest and concern. Drawing largely on cross-sectional studies, the literature on associations between sexting and psychosocial outcomes remains inconsistent. The current longitudinal study investigated associations between adolescent girls’ sexting and two indicators of psychological well-being: symptoms of depression/anxiety and self-esteem. Responses were collected from a panel sample of 859 female Croatian secondary-school students over a 20-month period, across five classroom-based data collection points. Multi-domain latent growth curve modeling indicated that sexting dynamics were unrelated to changes in psychological well-being. Adverse family environment and, to a lesser extent, participants’ peer conformism were related to more frequent sexting and lower levels of psychological well-being. Our findings support the notion that in general adolescent girls’ sexting may be a (non-pathological) part of sexual development during middle to late adolescence in today’s digital age.
Istraživanja sugeriraju kako se značajan broj mladih koristi seksualno eksplicitnim materijalom (SEM). Istodobno, razvoj je mobilnih tehnologija i internetskih društvenih mreža omogućio novo seksualizirano ponašanjeslanje seksualiziranih poruka (engl. sexting). Dosadašnja su istraživanja povezala uporabu SEM-a, odnosno slanja seksualno eksplicitnih poruka, s rizičnim spolnim ponašanjima i nekim drugim neželjenim ishodima. Vodeći se modelom diferencijalne osjetljivosti na efekte medija (DSMM; Peter i Valkenburg, 2013), cilj je ovoga longitudinalnog istraživanja bio ispitati doprinos stupnja obrazovanja roditelja, roditeljske kontrole, samopoštovanja, traženja uzbuđenja, anksioznosti i depresivnosti, religioznosti, seksualne inicijacije, korištenja internetskih društvenih mreža te korištenja SEM-a u predikciji slanja seksualno eksplicitnih poruka. Istraživanje je provedeno na populacijskom uzorku koji je uključio 791 riječkog srednjoškolca (302 mladića i 489 djevojaka) prosječne dobi od 15.8 godina (SD = 0.51). Podaci su prikupljeni u dvije vremenske točke u razmaku od 12 mjeseci. Od ukupnog broja sudionika 46% je mladića u prvom i 37.7% u drugom mjerenju bar jednom poslalo seksualiziranu poruku, dok je isto ponašanje označilo 36.6.% djevojaka u prvom i 33.7% u drugom mjerenju. S obzirom na to da je seksualna socijalizacija adolescenta idalje velikim dijelom spolno specifična, analize su provedene odvojeno po spolu. Rezultati multivarijatne analize (korištena je hijerarhijska logistička regresija s kontrolom inicijalne razine ishoda) pokazali su kako djevojke koje su u prvom mjerenju sklonije traženju uzbuđenja, djevojke koje su stupile u spolni odnos te one koje se koriste SEM-om češće šalju seksualno eksplicitne poruke u drugoj točki mjerenja. U poduzorku se mladića samo traženje uzbuđenja pokazalo značajnim pozitivnim prediktorom ishoda. Imajući u vidu golemu popularnost internetskih društvenih mreža među mladima, dobiveni nalazi upućuju na važnost sustavnog promicanja medijske pismenosti te boljeg razumijevanja motivacije za slanje seksualiziranih poruka, kao i potencijalnih rizika, u adolescenciji.Ključne riječi: seksualno eksplicitni materijal, seksualizirane poruke, traženje uzbuđenja, seksualna inicijacija, adolescenti
The original article has been corrected. The versions of Figures 2-4 presented in the original version of this article were incomplete. In allthree figures, structuralpaths were omitted. The article has been updated to provide the correct figures, which are also presented here (Figs. 2, 3, 4).
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