Sexting and Sexual Behavior, 2011-2015: A Critical Review and Meta-Analysis of a Growing Literature

Abstract

Sexting and its potential links to sexual behavior, including risky sexual practices

Demystifying sexting: Adolescent sexting and its associations with parenting styles and sense of parental social control in Israel

“…A study of 3,503 high-school students in Sweden found that 20.9% of adolescents posted self-created nude images online. A meta-analysis of articles published between 2011 and 2015 on the subject of sexting found that the prevalence rates of sexting ranged from 2.5% to 24%, with an estimated mean of 10.2% (Kosenko et al, 2017). A more recent study revealed that one in seven adolescents engage in sexting as senders while one in four are involved as recipients; furthermore, over the years, sexting has become more common among adolescents (Madigan et al, 2018).…”

Encyclopedia of Evolutionary Psychological Science

“…Because of the more distant and asynchronic nature of digital communication, it might make some users more comfortable to express their emotions and sexual desires though digital sexually explicit messages, as opposed to in-person contact (Van Ouytsel et al 2017). Research has also found that sexting among adolescents could function as a first step towards sexual activity, as it has been found to precede and co-occur with offline forms of sexual contact (Kosenko et al 2017;Temple and Choi 2014). Longitudinal research has shown that sexting is significantly more likely to precede offline sexual activity, but not sexual risk behavior, among adolescents.…”

“…Although sexting was originally treated by the literature as a deviant behavior, it is now increasingly viewed as a normative part of sexual communication and expression (Barrense-Dias et al 2017;Kosenko et al 2017;Temple 2015).…”

Teens and 'Sexting' in New Zealand: Prevalence and Attitudes

“…While public interest in the sharing of nudes has increased, particularly among parents, educators, and law enforcement officials (Lounsbury, Mitchell, & Finkelhor, 2011), two competing approaches have emerged to explain the so-called sexting phenomenon (Kosenko, Luurs, & Binder, 2017). On the one hand, the sharing of nude content is seen as a high-risk behaviour that requires intervention and prevention, especially through education.…”