ABSTRACT

Sexting in young adolescents may be an online form of early sexual debut. We assess the link between potentially problematic sexting (i.e., pressured and receiving unwanted sexts) with known risky behaviors (i.e., substance use and early sexual behavior) among middle school students aged 12 and under. The ethnically diverse sample consisted of 1131 youth (53% female) enrolled in the 7th grade in one of 24 schools in southeast Texas. Participants self-identified as 31% Hispanic, 9% White, 24% Black, 19% Asian, 11% other, and 6% unknown. Participants self-reported pressured sexting, receiving unwanted sexts, history of sexual activity, and substance use. Two-point-one percent of adolescents reported sending a sext under pressure and 13.7% reported having received an unwanted sexting image. Participants with a history of sexual intercourse, relative to their non-sexually experienced counterparts, reported higher rates of being pressured into sexting and receiving unwanted sexts. Further, a portion of youth who experienced pressured or unwanted sexting also reported the use of various substances, relative to their non-sexting counterparts. Our study underscores the need for comprehensive sex education to begin at an early age and include age-appropriate information on sexting, digital citizenship, relationships, and substance use.

摘要

青少年的性短信可能是早期性行为的一种在线形式。我们评估了 12 岁及以下中学生中可能存在问题的色情短信（即受到压力和收到不受欢迎的色情短信）与已知的危险行为（即物质使用和过早性行为）之间的联系。种族多样化的样本由德克萨斯州东南部 24 所学校之一的 1131 名七年级青少年（53% 为女性）组成。参与者自认为 31% 是西班牙裔，9% 是白人，24% 是黑人，19% 是亚洲人，11% 是其他人，6% 是未知人。参与者自我报告了压力性色情短信、收到不受欢迎的色情短信、性活动史和药物使用情况。百分之两点一的青少年表示在压力下发送了色情短信，13.7% 的青少年表示收到了不想要的色情短信图片。有性交史的参与者，相对于没有性经历的同龄人来说，被迫发送色情短信和收到不受欢迎的色情短信的比例更高。此外，相对于没有收到色情短信的青少年来说，一部分经历过压力性或不必要的色情短信的青少年也报告说使用了各种物质。我们的研究强调需要从小开始进行全面的性教育，并包括有关色情短信、数字公民、人际关系和药物使用的适合年龄的信息。