Abstract
While prior research has identified multiple associations between engagement in sexting and risky behaviors, most existing studies do not take into account the contexts in which sexting occurs. The present study extends prior research by examining whether the associations between adolescents’ sexting behavior and engagement in substance use, sexual behaviors, and deviant behaviors differ depending on the relational context (within or outside of a romantic relationship) in which young people engage in sexting. Results from a survey of 1187 secondary school students (61.3% girls, n = 728) between 16 and 22 years old (M = 17.82 years; SD = 0.88) revealed that sexting with a romantic partner is not a significant marker of engagement in risk behaviors. However, single youth who engage in sexting outside of a romantic relationship are more likely to report substance use, relative to their non-sexting counterparts. These findings underscore the need to use more nuanced measures to investigate sexting and for sexual education initiatives to integrate messages about substance use.
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Acknowledgements
The authors would like to thank the undergraduate students Lien Maldoy, Esther Sikkens, and Moniek Wallink for their assistance with the data collection. The authors would also like to thank Dr. Jessica Taylor Piotrowski for her helpful feedback on this study during the ICA-CAM research escalator session at the 67th Annual International Communication Association Conference, 25–29 May 2017, San Diego, California, USA.
Authors’ Contributions
J.V.O. conceptualized and designed the study, coordinated and supervised the data collection, carried out the data analysis, interpreted the results, drafted the initial manuscript, and revised the manuscript. K.P. and M.W. participated in the design of the study. K.P., M.W., Y.L. and J.R.T. supervised the data analysis, assisted in the interpretation of the results, and revised the manuscript. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.
Funding
The work of Dr. Joris Van Ouytsel is supported by the Research Foundation - Flanders. During a research stay at the University of Texas Medical Branch, Dr. Van Ouytsel was supported by a grant awarded by the Fulbright Commission in Belgium. The data collection for this study was supported by the Research Fund of the University of Antwerp (BOF DOC PRO 2013 - 41/FA040300/FFB130145). The study design, data collection, analysis, interpretation of the data, writing of the report and the decision to submit the article for publication were the sole responsibility of the authors and were in no way influenced by the funding institutions.
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The study’s protocol and the consent procedures were approved by the Ethical Committee of the University of Antwerp. All procedures performed in this study involving human participants were in accordance with the ethical standards of the institutional and/or national research committee and with the 1964 Helsinki declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards.
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Van Ouytsel, J., Walrave, M., Lu, Y. et al. The Associations between Substance Use, Sexual Behavior, Deviant Behaviors and Adolescents’ Engagement in Sexting: Does Relationship Context Matter?. J Youth Adolescence 47, 2353–2370 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10964-018-0903-9
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10964-018-0903-9