Introduction

Sexting has emerged as a significant public health issue. Sexting is associated with substance use and other sexual behaviors, such as oral and vaginal sex (Houck et al., 2014; Temple & Choi, 2014). Current studies on sexting are often cross-sectional, limiting the ability to determine the temporal order of sexting and sexual behaviors. Additionally, studies focus on samples of young adults (Benotsch et al., 2013). The current study extends the literature by examining sexting and sexual behaviors longitudinally among adolescents and examines race and gender differences that play a role in sexting.

Methods

The current study utilizes a prospective, 4-year longitudinal study of 1240 adolescents (aged 11–17) living in the Midwestern United States. Overall, the sample was 10% Black males, 11% Black females, 34% White Males, 31% White females, and 15% identified as Other. Analysis includes an autoregressive model with cross-lagged effects in MPlus.

Results

Sexting (T1) predicted oral and sexual encounters (T4) for Black males, White males, and White females but not for Black females. Oral sex and sexual encounters (T4) did not predict any sexting (T1) for all groups. Therefore, analysis establishes sexting as an antecedent to sexual behaviors for Black males, White males, and White females. Sexting and sexual behaviors did not have a significant association for Black females.

Conclusions

This study identifies sexting as a precursor to sexual behaviors among adolescents. Therefore, when tailoring programs for safe sex among these populations, focusing on sexting may reduce other sexual risky behaviors.

中文翻译：

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色情短信可以预测青少年的性行为吗？性别和种族影响

介绍

色情短信已成为一个重要的公共卫生问题。色情短信与物质使用和其他性行为有关，例如口交和阴道性交（Houck 等人，2014 年；Temple & Choi，2014 年）。目前关于色情短信的研究通常是横断面的，限制了确定短信和性行为时间顺序的能力。此外，研究侧重于年轻人的样本（Benotsch 等，2013）。目前的研究通过纵向检查青少年中的色情短信和性行为来扩展文献，并检查在色情短信中起作用的种族和性别差异。

方法

目前的研究对居住在美国中西部的 1240 名青少年（11-17 岁）进行了一项为期 4 年的前瞻性纵向研究。总体而言，样本为 10% 的黑人男性、11% 的黑人女性、34% 的白人男性、31% 的白人女性和 15% 被认定为其他人。分析包括 MPlus 中具有交叉滞后效应的自回归模型。

结果

色情短信 (T1) 预测了黑人男性、白人男性和白人女性的口交和性接触 (T4)，但不能预测黑人女性的口交和性接触 (T4)。口交和性接触 (T4) 并未预测所有组的任何色情短信 (T1)。因此，分析将色情短信确立为黑人男性、白人男性和白人女性性行为的前因。色情短信和性行为与黑人女性没有显着关联。

结论

这项研究将色情短信确定为青少年性行为的先兆。因此，在为这些人群制定安全性行为计划时，关注色情短信可能会减少其他危险的性行为。