Sexting and risky sexual behaviours among undergraduate students in Botswana: An exploratory study

Abstract

Little is known about sexting behaviours among young people living in African countries. This exploratory study investigated sexting behaviours among undergraduate students in Botswana (N = 309, 64.5% female; mean age = 20.3 years

Self-esteem, self-efficacy, self-concept and intimate image diffusion among deaf adolescents: A structural equation model analysis

“…(2015) noted that individuals with disabilities had increased levels of psychological distress and difficulties which were associated with discrimination, poor mental health, impaired self-efficacy and lower self-esteem, as well as intimate partner violence as a result of compulsive diffusion of intimate/sexually explicit images. The findings in this study provided support for previous studies among deaf individuals who reported a relationship between self-efficacy and reported incidents of negative behaviour and stressful life events, such as sexting ( Lenhart, 2009 ; Makgale and Platterner, 2017 ), sexual and physical assault ( Anderson et al., 2017 ; Crowe, 2020 ; Mahat and Scoloveno, 2010 ), alcohol abuse ( Christiansen et al., 2002 ) and communication and social barriers ( Cuevas et al., 2019 ; Marschark et al, 2018 ).…”

“…An indirect relationship between self-esteem, self-efficacy, self-concept and intimate image diffusion in relation to the sex of the participants was found to be insignificant in this study. This implies that irrespective of their sex (male or female), the sharing or diffusion of intimate images among adolescents is largely predicted by psychological variables ( Crowe, 2020 ; Klettke et al., 2019 ; Makgale and Platterner, 2017 ; Rostosky et al., 2008 ). In line with this study, earlier studies have shown that irrespective of their gender, adolescents and young adults engaged in sending and receiving sexually explicit images or content ( Spencer et al., 2015 ; Yeung et al., 2014 ).…”

“…Currently, the increase in public outcry, worries and research attention towards sexting among adolescents is linked to possible negative outcomes such as cyberbullying, online sexual exploitation and harassment that may likely emanate from possible misuse of the intimate images and/or broken romantic relationships. While previous research studies on the exchange of intimate images have focused on adolescents with a functional sense of hearing ( Crimmins and Siegfriend-Spellar, 2014 ; Lawrence and Tokede, 2017 ; Makgale and Plattner, 2017 ), studies on intimate image diffusion or sexting vis-à-vis its prevalence, causative factors and social-emotional impact among deaf adolescents whose sense of hearing is non-functional is relatively scarce. Therefore, this study advances the existing body of knowledge on the influence of the components of ‘self’ on intimate image diffusion among deaf adolescents.…”

Impulsivity traits, emotions and mobile phone sexting among college students in Kenya

“…Previous research on the predictors of sexting has explored the influence of technology and availability of mobile phones (Smith, 2011;Yeung et al, 2014), such as alcohol consumption (Makgale & Plattner, 2017),peer influence, identity formation, sexual exploration, attitudes towards sexting and subjective norms and relationship formation, including flirting [Burkett, 2015;Hudson & Fetro, 2015;Samimi & Alderson, 2014; The National Campaign to Prevent Teen and Unplanned Pregnancy (NCPTUP), 2008], among others. However, mixed findings are reported concerning the extent to which coercion plays a role in sexting.…”

“…Inconsistent findings are reported in the literature examining whether sexting varies according to respondents' socio-demographic characteristics, including gender. Generally, studies report significant gender differences in sexting behaviours in favour of men (Brodle et al, 2019;Hudson et al, 2014;Makgale & Plattner, 2017). According to this line of research, women are less likely to sext because they perceive a higher risk and the likelihood of negative outcomes more than men do.…”