Sending One's Own Intimate Image: Sexting Among Middle‐School Teens

Abstract

Background There is a gap in the literature regarding data on sexting among youth under the age of 16 whereas the problems related to this practice could affect them more because of their ongoing development. This study aims to determine the prevalence rate and characteristics of sending one's own sexually related image among middle‐school teens. Methods Data were obtained from a web‐based in‐school survey conducted between October 2019 and February 2020. The sample comprised 3006 (mean age 13.7; 50.2% males) 10th‐grade pupils in the canton of Vaud (Switzerland). Participants were asked “Have you ever sent a sexually related/sexy image of yourself?”. Analysis of variance/chi‐square tests and multinomial regression analyses were used to compare the groups. Results Overall, 93.0% reported never, 3.7% once and 3.3% several times. No gender differences were found. Sending was associated with older age, low academic performance, cyberbullying victimization and reception of unsolicited sexually related images. Conclusions Education and health professionals should be aware that it is necessary to discuss the theme, perhaps with a more global approach including pressure, consent, exchange of nonsexual images, and so on from an early age. The context and reasons for sending remain to be explored, particularly to determine if the pressure is greater at this age.

Sexting Among Australian Adolescents: Risk and Protective Factors

“…These findings are not surprising as the influence of peer group on adolescent behavior increases with age (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2021 ). Further, students under the age of 16 with lower academic performance were more likely to send sexts (Barrense-Dias et al, 2022 ), while those who reported greater school connectedness were at a lower risk of sending sexts (Hunter et al, 2021 ). Adolescents aged 13–14 years from low-income families were less likely to send sexts relative to teens from high-income families (Kim et al, 2020 ).…”

Relationship between Emotional Intelligence, Victimization, and Academic Achievement in High School Students

“…There are extreme cases in which physical violence predominates over any other typology, which aggravates the situation, by devising suicidal thoughts among adolescents who suffer from it (Aboagye et al 2022). Other studies point to a new typology, sexting, due to the higher prevalence it is experiencing in the last decade among high school students (Yara Barrense-Dias et al 2022;Larrain and Garaigordobil 2020).…”