We really do not discover throughout the current analysis if the adolescents’ intimate event and you may engagement in risky intimate decisions preceded otherwise observed sexting behaviors. Longitudinal degree you to clearly account fully for enough time succession are required. At exactly the same time, questions into the sexting were establish for it study and you may weren’t vetted by the children, probably restricting the newest validity of one’s conclusions. We together with didn’t request this new name away from whom kids sexted, whom wanted a great sext, and you will significantly less than exactly what requirements sexting happened. Coming look, including qualitative training, includes contextual concerns. On top of that, conclusions of 18 season olds would be interpreted having warning due for the apparently small number of these types of users within our attempt. Fundamentally, while the try stands for a varied get across-element of people out of numerous higher schools/districts, you’ll be able you to definitely local differences swayed frequency estimates. Even after these constraints, the modern research is one of the basic to examine the incidence and character off sexting for the a racially and you may ethnically diverse school-built try, and also to demonstrated a link between sexting and you can intimate choices.
Results
While some distinctions had been listed with regards to gender, years, and you can competition/ethnicity, it is obvious you to adolescent sexting are common among teens. More one quarter out of teens in the modern shot said delivering a nude picture of themselves to another teenager, as well as 50 % of was in fact requested to send you to. Perhaps most telling is the 
discovering that young ones who have participated during the sexting was basically substantially more likely to report a track record of intercourse (for girls and boys) and you will risky intimate choices (for females). Making use of phones and you can txt messaging has grown rapidly for the past five years, as well as the age of cellular telephone possession has-been steadily young. 16,27 So it’s important one to pediatricians, teenage drug gurus, and other health care company get acquainted with, routinely inquire about, and you will learn how to respond to teenager sexting.
Acknowledgments
Dr. Forehead is actually backed by Honor Matter K23HD059916 throughout the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute out-of Son Wellness & Peoples Innovation. Dr. van den Berg try backed by Award Amount K23HD06326102 in the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute away from Boy Fitness & People Creativity. The message is actually exclusively the responsibility of your writers and do not always show the state viewpoints of your Eunice Kennedy Shriver Federal Institute of Child Wellness & Person Development or even the federal Institutes off Fitness. This research was also made possible that have capital to Dr. Forehead by the Hogg Basis for Psychological state (JRG-082) plus the John Sealy Memorial Endowment Fund to possess Biomedical Browse. Dr. Temple enjoys complete use of most of the analysis on the study and you may requires obligations towards the integrity of one’s analysis in addition to reliability of studies studies. Which performs don’t have come it is possible to without the consent and assistance of the brand new colleges and you will university areas.
Footnotes
Having light and you can equivocal empirical study, pediatricians, policy-firms, colleges and you will mothers is actually disabled from the not enough factual statements about the type and you may significance of adolescent sexting. In addition to the the second judge implications and potential for intimidation, sexting are a risk basis for otherwise an indicator regarding risky sexual conclusion. Because of the decreased early in the day training, it’s uncertain just how the choices fits inside domain name regarding teen dating and sexual routines. For this reason, the purpose of this study was a couple of-bend. Earliest, we select the new prevalence and you may identify the nature from sexting (as the sender and you may recipient) certainly one of a massive ethnically diverse college or university-established test off teenagers. Due to the fact novelty of procedure inhibits you out of while making certain empirically-guided hypotheses, i desired you to definitely sexting behaviors commonly disagree because of the sex, getting an expansion regarding teens’ existence, and will co-occur the help of its sexual (dating) and you may sexual (gender, risky intercourse) practices.
