Abstract
Sexting is the sharing of sexually explicit images, videos, and/or messages via electronic devices. Prevalence estimates of sexting have varied substantially, potentially due to broad age ranges being examined. The current study sought to synthesize relevant findings examining the prevalence of consensual and non-consensual sexting in a specific developmental period, emerging adulthood (≥ 18–< 29), to try to explain discrepancies in the literature. Searches were conducted in electronic databases for articles published up to April 2018. Relevant data from 50 studies with 18,122 emerging adults were extracted. The prevalence of sexting behaviors were: sending 38.3% (k = 41; CI 32.0–44.6), receiving 41.5% (k = 19; CI 31.9–51.2), and reciprocal sexting 47.7% (k = 16; CI 37.6–57.8). Thus, sexting is a common behavior among emerging adults. The prevalence of non-consensual forwarding of sexts was also frequent in emerging adults at 15.0% (k = 7; CI 6.9–23.2). Educational awareness initiatives on digital citizenship and psychological consequences of the non-consensual forwarding of sexts should be targeted to youth and emerging adults with the hopes of mitigating this potentially damaging and illegal behavior.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
Notes
Statistical significance is derived from comparing mean prevalence rates and 95% confidence intervals. If the confidence intervals are non-overlapping, statistical differences are expected (Julious, 2004).
References
Abma, J. C., Martinez, G. M., Mosher, W. D., & Dawson, B. S. (2004). Teenagers in the United States: Sexual activity, contraceptive use, and childbearing, 2002. Vital and Health Statistics,23(24), 1–48.
Abraham, A. E. (2015). Sexting uncensored: An exploratory study on the behaviours, experiences, and perceptions of sexting among college students (Unpublished master’s thesis). California State University, Fresno, CA.
Agustina, J. R., & Gomez-Duran, E. L. (2016). Risk factors associated with sexting as a preliminary framework for preventing different derivative forms of victimization A study of factors correlated with sexting in a university sample. IDP-Internet Law and Politics,22(1), 21–47.
Andar, S. (2014). The prevalence of college sexual assault among women in the digital media era: An online investigation of potential impacts from social networking, pornography, cyberbullying and sexting (Unpublished doctoral dissertation). Columbia University, New York, NY. Retrieved from ProQuest (3621761).
Arnett, J. J. (2000). Emerging adulthood: A theory of development from the late teens through the twenties. American Psychologist,55(5), 469–480.
Arnett, J. J., Źukauskienė, R., & Sugimura, K. (2014). The new life stage of emerging adulthood at ages 18–29 years: Implications for mental health. Lancet Psychiatry,1(7), 569–576. https://doi.org/10.1016/S2215-0366(14)00080-7.
Associated Press & MTV. (2009). AP-MTV Digital abuse study, executive summary. Retrieved June 2016 from https://vawnet.org/sites/default/files/materials/files/2016-08/MTV-AP_Digital_Abuse_Study_Executive_Summary.pdf.
Associated Press & MTV. (2013). The digital abuse study: Experiences of teens and young adults. Retrieved June 2016 from http://www.apnorc.org/PDFs/Digital%20Abuse/AP-NORC%20Center%20and%20MTV_Digital%20Abuse%20Study_FINAL.pdf.
Atwood, R. M., Beckert, T. E., & Rhodes, M. R. (2017). Adolescent problematic digital behaviors associated with mobile devices. North American Journal of Psychology,19(3), 659–683.
Barry, C. M., Madsen, S. D., Nelson, L. J., Carroll, J. S., & Badger, S. (2009). Friendship and romantic relationship qualities in emerging adulthood: Differential associations with identity development and achieved adulthood criteria. Journal of Adult Development,16(4), 209–222. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10804-009-9067-x.
Bauermeister, J. A., Yeagley, E., Meanley, S., & Pingel, E. S. (2014). Sexting among young men who have sex with men: Results from a national survey. Journal of Adolescent Health,54(5), 606–611. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jadohealth.2013.10.013.
Baumgartner, S. E., Sumter, S. R., Peter, J., Valkenburg, P. M., & Livingstone, S. (2014). Does country context matter? Investigating the predictors of teen sexting across Europe. Computers in Human Behavior,34, 157–164. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chb.2014.01.041.
Benotsch, E. G., Snipes, D. J., Martin, A. M., & Bull, S. S. (2013). Sexting, substance use, and sexual risk behavior in young adults. Journal of Adolescent Health,52(3), 307–313. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jadohealth.2012.06.011.
Boden, J. M. (2017). What schools can do: An exploration of personal and school factors in youth sexting behaviors and related attitudes (Doctoral dissertation). Temple University, Philadelphia, PA. Retrieved from ProQuest (10601828).
Borenstein, M., Hedges, L. V., Higgins, J., & Rothstein, H. (2011). Introduction to meta-analysis. Chichester, West Sussex, England: Wiley.
Borenstein, M., Hedges, L., Higgins, J., & Rothstein, H. (2014). Comprehensive meta-analysis: A computer program from research synthesis (version 3). Englewood, NJ: Biostat Inc.
Branch, K., Hilinski-Rosick, C. M., Johnson, E., & Solano, G. (2017). Revenge porn victimization of college students in the United States: An exploratory analysis. International Journal of Cyber Criminology,11(1), 128–142. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.495777.
Brinkley, D. Y., Ackerman, R. A., Ehrenreich, S. E., & Underwood, M. K. (2017). Sending and receiving text messages with sexual content: Relations with early sexual activity and borderline personality features in late adolescence. Computers in Human Behavior,70, 119–130. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chb.2016.12.082.
Castañeda, D. M. (2017). Sexting and sexuality in romantic relationships among Latina/o emerging adults. American Journal of Sexuality Education,12(2), 120–135. https://doi.org/10.1080/15546128.2017.1298069.
Choi, H., Van Ouytsel, J., & Temple, J. R. (2016). Association between sexting and sexual coercion among female adolescents. Journal of Adolescence,53, 164–168. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.adolescence.2016.10.005.
Dake, J. A., Price, J. H., Maziarz, L., & Ward, B. (2012). Prevalence and correlates of sexting behavior in adolescents. American Journal of Sexuality Education,7(1), 1–15. https://doi.org/10.1080/15546128.2012.650959.
Davis, M. J., Powell, A., Gordon, D., & Kershaw, T. (2016). I want your sext: Sexting and sexual risk in emerging adult minority men. AIDS Education and Prevention,28(2), 138–152. https://doi.org/10.1521/aeap.2016.28.2.138.
Dir, A. L., Coskunpinar, A., Steiner, J. L., & Cyders, M. A. (2013). Understanding differences in sexting behaviors across gender, relationship status, and sexual identity, and the role of expectancies in sexting. Cyberpsychology, Behavior and Social Networking,16(8), 568–574. https://doi.org/10.1089/cyber.2012.0545.
Döring, N. (2014). Consensual sexting among adolescents: Risk prevention through abstinence education or safer sexting? Cyberpsychology: Journal of Psychosocial Research on Cyberspace. https://doi.org/10.5817/CP2014-1-9.
Downes, M. J., Brennan, M. L., Williams, H. C., & Dean, R. S. (2016). Development of a critical appraisal tool to assess the quality of cross-sectional studies (AXIS). British Medical Journal Open,6(12), e011458. https://doi.org/10.1136/bmjopen-2016-011458.
Dredge, S. (2015). Tinder hits back at research claiming 42% of its users have a partner. The Guardian. Retrieved July 2019 from https://www.theguardian.com/international.
Drouin, M., Coupe, M., & Temple, J. R. (2017). Is sexting good for your relationship? It depends…. Computers in Human Behavior,75, 749–756. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chb.2017.06.018.
Drouin, M., Ross, J., & Tobin, E. (2015). Sexting: A new, digital vehicle for intimate partner aggression? Computers in Human Behavior,50, 197–204. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chb.2015.04.001.
Drouin, M., Vogel, K. N., Surbey, A., & Stills, J. R. (2013). Let’s talk about sexting, baby: Computer-mediated sexual behaviors among young adults. Computers in Human Behavior,29(5), A25–A30. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chb.2012.12.030.
Egger, M., Smith, G. D., Schneider, M., & Minder, C. (1997). Bias in meta-analysis detected by a simple, graphical test. British Medical Journal,315(7109), 629–634. https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.315.7109.629.
Englander, E. K. (2015). Coerced sexting and revenge porn among teens. Bullying, Teen Aggression & Social Media,1(2), 19–21.
Englander, E. K., & McCoy, M. (2017). Pressured sexting and revenge porn in a sample of Massachusetts adolescents. International Journal of Technoethics,8(2), 16–25. https://doi.org/10.4018/IJT.2017070102.
Ethier, K. A., Kann, L., & McManus, T. (2018). Sexual intercourse among high school students—29 states and United States overall, 2005–2015. Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report,66(51/52), 1393–1397. https://doi.org/10.15585/mmwr.mm665152a1.
Ferguson, C. J. (2011). Sexting behaviors among young Hispanic women: Incidence and association with other high-risk sexual behaviors. Psychiatric Quarterly,82(3), 239–243. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11126-010-9165-8.
Ferguson, C. J., & Brannick, M. T. (2012). Publication bias in psychological science: Prevalence, methods for identifying and controlling, and implications for the use of meta-analyses. Psychological Methods,17(1), 120–128. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0024445.
Fox, J., & Tang, W. Y. (2017). Women’s experiences with general and sexual harassment in online video games: Rumination, organizational responsiveness, withdrawal, and coping strategies. New Media & Society,19(8), 1290–1307. https://doi.org/10.1177/1461444816635778.
Gámez-Guadix, M., Almendros, C., Borrajo, E., & Calvete, E. (2015). Prevalence and association of sexting and online sexual victimization among Spanish adults. Sexuality Research & Social Policy,12(2), 145–154. https://doi.org/10.1007/s13178-015-0186-9.
Giroux, A. M. (2011). Sexting: Connections to sexual and social development (Unpublished bachelor’s thesis). University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ.
Gordon-Messer, D., Bauermeister, J. A., Grodzinski, A., & Zimmerman, M. (2013). Sexting among young adults. Journal of Adolescent Health,52(3), 301–306. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jadohealth.2012.05.013.
Hall, M., Williams, R. D., Ford, M. A., Cromeans, E. M., & Bergman, R. J. (2020). Hooking-up, religiosity, and sexting among college students. Journal of Religion and Health,59, 484–496. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10943-016-0291-y.
Henry, N., & Powell, A. (2015). Beyond the ‘sext’: Technology-facilitated sexual violence and harassment against adult women. Australian & New Zealand Journal of Criminology,48(1), 104–118. https://doi.org/10.1177/0004865814524218.
Herbenick, D., Reece, M., Schick, V., Sanders, S. A., Dodge, B., & Fortenberry, J. D. (2010). Sexual behavior in the United States: Results from a national probability sample of men and women ages 14-94. Journal of Sexual Medicine,7, 255–265. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1743-6109.2010.02012.x.
Higgins, J. P., Thompson, S. G., Deeks, J. G., & Altman, D. G. (2003). Measuring inconsistency in meta-analyses. British Medical Journal,327(7414), 557–560. https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.327.7414.557.
Hoy, D., Brooks, P., Woolf, A., Blyth, F., March, L., Bain, C., … Buchbinder, R. (2012). Assessing risk of bias in prevalence studies: Modification of an existing tool and evidence of interrater agreement. Journal of Clinical Epidemiology,65(9), 934–939. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclinepi.2011.11.014.
Hudson, H. K., & Fetro, J. V. (2015). Sextual activity: Predictors of sexting behaviors and intentions to sext among selected undergraduate students. Computers in Human Behavior,49, 615–622. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chb.2015.03.048.
Hunter, J. E., & Schmidt, F. L. (2008). Fixed effects vs. random effects meta-analysis models: Implications for cumulative research knowledge. International Journal of Selection and Assessment,8(4), 275–292. https://doi.org/10.1111/1468-2389.00156.
Jerome, M. V. H., & Srinivasan, M. (2014). Mobile phones: New venue of victimisation—A study among young girls in Chennai, India. International Journal of Management Research and Social Science,1(1), 42–52.
Jewell, J. A., & Brown, C. S. (2013). Sexting, catcalls, and butt slaps: How gender stereotypes and perceived group norms predict sexualized behavior. Sex Roles,69(11–12), 594–604. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11199-013-0320-1.
Julious, S. A. (2004). Using confidence intervals around individual means to assess statistical significance between two means. Pharmaceutical Statistics,3(3), 217–222. https://doi.org/10.1002/pst.126.
Key, H. C. (2016). The influence of parental and romantic relationships on risk behavior: Parental attachment, adult attachment, sexting, sexual communication, and HIV risk behavior in African-American young adults (Unpublished doctoral dissertation). Howard University, Washington, DC.
Klettke, B., Hallford, D. J., & Mellor, D. J. (2014). Sexting prevalence and correlates: A systematic literature review. Clinical Psychology Review,34(1), 44–53. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cpr.2013.10.007.
Kopecký, K. (2014). Cyberbullying and sexting between children and adolescents—Comparative study. Procedia Social and Behavioral Sciences,149, 467–471. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.sbspro.2014.08.292.
Kričkić, D., Šincek, D., & Čike, A. B. (2017). Sexting, cyber-violence and sexually risk behaviour among college students. Criminology & Social Integration Journal,25(2), 15–28. https://doi.org/10.31299/ksi.25.2.2.
Krieger, M. A. (2017). Unpacking “sexting”: A systematic review of nonconsensual sexting in legal, educational, and psychological literatures. Trauma, Violence, & Abuse,18(5), 593–601. https://doi.org/10.1177/1524838016659486.
Lee, M., Crofts, T., McGovern, A., & Milivojevic, S. (2015). Sexting among young people: Perceptions and practices. Trends and Issues in Crime and Criminal Justice (No. 508). Canberra: Australian Institute of Criminology. https://www.aic.gov.au/publications/tandi/tandi508.
Lim, M. S. C., Vella, A. M., Horyniak, D. R., & Hellard, M. E. (2016). Exploring attitudes towards sexting of young people: A cross-sectional study. Sexual Health,13(6), 530–535. https://doi.org/10.1071/SH16029.
Lindsay, M., & Krysik, J. (2012). Online harassment among college students: A replication incorporating new Internet trends. Information, Communication & Society,15(5), 703–719. https://doi.org/10.1080/1369118X.2012.674959.
Liong, M., & Cheng, G. H. L. (2017). Sext and gender: Examining gender effects on sexting based on the theory of planned behaviour. Behaviour & Information Technology,36(7), 726–736. https://doi.org/10.1080/0144929x.2016.1276965.
Madigan, S., Ly, A., Rash, C. L., Van Ouytsel, J., & Temple, J. R. (2018). Prevalence of multiple forms of sexting behavior among youth: A systematic review and meta-analysis. JAMA Pediatrics,172(4), 327–335. https://doi.org/10.1001/jamapediatrics.2017.5314.
Makgale, O. L., & Plattner, I. E. (2017). Sexting and risky sexual behaviours among undergraduate students in Botswana: An exploratory study. Cyberpsychology: Journal of Psychosocial Research on Cyberspace. https://doi.org/10.5817/cp2017-2-1.
Marganski, A. (2017). Sexting in Poland and the United States: A comparative study of personal and social-situational factors. International Journal of Cyber Criminology,11(2), 183–201. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.1037385.
Martinez, G. M., & Abma, J. C. (2015). Sexual activity, contraceptive use, and childbearing of teenagers aged 15–19 in the United States. Retrieved November 2018 from https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/32514.
Martinez-Prather, K., & Vandiver, D. M. (2014). Sexting among teenagers in the United States: A retrospective analysis of identifying motivating factors, potential targets, and the role of a capable guardian. International Journal of Cyber Criminology,8(1), 21–35.
McGlynn, C., Rackley, E., & Houghton, R. (2017). Beyond ‘revenge porn’: The continuum of image-based sexual abuse. Feminist Legal Studies,25(1), 25–46. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10691-017-9343-2.
Medrano, J. L. J., Lopez Rosales, F., & Gámez-Guadix, M. (2018). Assessing the links of sexting, cybervictimization, depression, and suicidal ideation among university students. Archives of Suicide Research,22(1), 153–164. https://doi.org/10.1080/13811118.2017.1304304.
Megarry, J. (2014). Online incivility or sexual harassment? Conceptualising women’s experiences in the digital age. Women’s Studies International Forum,47, 46–55. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.wsif.2014.07.012.
Ménard, K. S., Hall, G. C. N., Phung, A. H., Ghebrial, M. F. E., & Martin, L. (2003). Gender differences in sexual harassment and coercion in college students: Developmental, individual, and situational determinants. Journal of Interpersonal Violence,18(10), 1222–1239. https://doi.org/10.1177/0886260503256654.
Moher, D., Shamseer, L., Clarke, M., Ghersi, D., Liberati, A., Petticrew, M., … Stewart, L. A. (2015). Preferred reporting items for systematic review and meta-analysis protocols (PRISMA-P) 2015 statement. Systematic Reviews,4(1), 264–270. https://doi.org/10.1186/2046-4053-4-1.
Morgan, E. M. (2013). Contemporary issues in sexual orientation and identity development in emerging adulthood. Emerging Adulthood,1(1), 52–66. https://doi.org/10.1177/2167696812469187.
Mori, C., Temple, J. R., Browne, D., & Madigan, S. (2019). Association of sexting with sexual behaviors and mental health among adolescents: A systematic review and meta-analysis. JAMA Pediatrics,173(8), 770–779. https://doi.org/10.1001/jamapediatrics.2019.1658.
Mosher, W. D., Chandra, A., & Jones, J. (2005). Sexual behavior and selected health measures: Men and women 15–44 years of age, United States, 2002. Advance Data,362, 1–55.
National Campaign to Prevent Teen and Unplanned Pregnancy. (2008). Sex and tech: Results from a survey of teens and young adults. Washington, DC: Author.
Olatunde, O., & Balogun, F. (2017). Sexting: Prevalence, predictors, and associated sexual risk behaviors among postsecondary school young people in Ibadan, Nigeria. Frontiers in Public Health. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpubh.2017.00096.
O’Neal Nagel, P., Cummings, T., Hansen, C. H., & Ott, M. A. (2013). Predictors of sexting in a university population [Abstract]. Journal of Adolescent Health,52(2 Suppl. 1), S87.
Parker, T. S., Blackburn, K. M., Perry, M. S., & Hawks, J. M. (2013). Sexting as an intervention: Relationship satisfaction and motivation considerations. American Journal of Family Therapy,41(1), 1–12. https://doi.org/10.1080/01926187.2011.635134.
Pereda, N., Guilera, G., Forns, M., & Gomez-Benito, J. (2009). The prevalence of child sexual abuse in community and student samples: A meta-analysis. Clinical Psychology Review,29(4), 328–338. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cpr.2009.02.007.
Perkins, A. B., Becker, J. V., Tehee, M., & Mackelprang, E. (2014). Sexting behaviors among college students: Cause for concern? International Journal of Sexual Health,26(2), 79–92. https://doi.org/10.1080/19317611.2013.841792.
Perrin, A. (2017). 10 facts about smartphones as the iPhone turns 10. Retrieved June 2019 from http://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2017/06/28/10-facts-about-smartphones/.
Quintana, D. S. (2015a). Evaluating the effect of study quality in meta-analyses [Web log message]. Retrieved November 2018 from https://medium.com/@dsquintana/evaluating-the-effect-of-study-quality-in-meta-analyses-8ce384cea183.
Quintana, D. S. (2015b). From pre-registration to publication: A non-technical primer for conducting a meta-analysis to synthesize correlational data. Frontiers in Psychology. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2015.01549.
Reed, L. A., Tolman, R. M., & Ward, L. M. (2016). Snooping and sexting: Digital media as a context for dating aggression and abuse among college students. Violence Against Women,22(13), 1556–1576. https://doi.org/10.1177/1077801216630143.
Reyns, B. W., Henson, B., & Fisher, B. S. (2014). Digital deviance: Low self-control and opportunity as explanations of sexting among college students. Sociological Spectrum,34(3), 273–292. https://doi.org/10.1080/02732173.2014.895642.
Rice, S. L. (2016). Distributing sexually explicit images: Teens, text messages, and self-esteem (Unpublished doctoral dissertation). Retrieved from ProQuest (3722313).
Romo, D. L., Garnett, C., Younger, A. P., Stockwell, M. S., Soren, K., Catallozzi, M., & Neu, N. (2017). Social media use and its association with sexual risk and parental monitoring among a primarily Hispanic adolescent population. Journal of Pediatric and Adolescent Gynecology,30(4), 466–473. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jpag.2017.02.004.
Samimi, P., & Alderson, K. G. (2014). Sexting among undergraduate students. Computers in Human Behavior,31, 230–241. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chb.2013.10.027.
Scholes-Balog, K., Francke, N., & Hemphill, S. (2016). Relationships between sexting, self-esteem, and sensation seeking among Australian young adults. Sexualization, Media, & Society,2(2), 1–8. https://doi.org/10.1177/2374623815627790.
Setty, E. (2018). Meanings of bodily and sexual expression in youth sexting culture: Young women’s negotiation of gendered risks and harms. Sex Roles,80, 586–606. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11199-018-0957-x.
Shaughnessy, K., Fudge, M., & Byers, E. S. (2017). An exploration of prevalence, variety, and frequency data to quantify online sexual activity experience. Canadian Journal of Human Sexuality,26(1), 60–75. https://doi.org/10.3138/cjhs.261-A4.
Shulman, S., & Connolly, J. (2013). The challenge of romantic relationships in emerging adulthood: Reconceptualization of the field. Emerging Adulthood,1(1), 27–39. https://doi.org/10.1177/2167696812467330.
Smiley, S. L., Elmasry, H., Webb Hooper, M., Niaura, R. S., Hamilton, A. B., & Milburn, N. G. (2017). Feasibility of ecological momentary assessment of daily sexting and substance use among young adult African American gay and bisexual men: A pilot study. JMIR Research Protocols,6(2), e9. https://doi.org/10.2196/resprot.6520.
Sterne, J. A. C., & Egger, M. (2001). Funnel plots for detecting bias in meta-analysis: Guidelines on choice of axis. Journal of Clinical Epidemiology,54(10), 1046–1055. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0895-4356(01)00377-8.
Strasburger, V. C., Zimmerman, H., Temple, J. R., & Madigan, S. (2019). Teenagers, sexting, and the law. Pediatrics, 143(5), e20183183.
Stocker, K. (2013). Young adult’s experience of sexting in America (Doctoral dissertation). Alliant International University, San Francisco, CA. Retrieved from ProQuest. (3594982).
Strohmaier, H., Murphy, M., & DeMatteo, D. (2014). Youth sexting: Prevalence rates, driving motivations, and the deterrent effect of legal consequences. Sexuality Research & Social Policy,11(3), 245–255. https://doi.org/10.1007/s13178-014-0162-9.
Sumter, S. R., Vandenbosch, L., & Ligtenberg, L. (2017). Love me Tinder: Untangling emerging adults’ motivations for using the dating application Tinder. Telematics and Informatics,34(1), 67–78. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tele.2016.04.009.
Temple, J. R., & Choi, H. (2014). Longitudinal association between teen sexting and sexual behavior. Pediatrics,134(5), e1287–e1292. https://doi.org/10.1542/peds.2014-1974.
Temple, J. R., Paul, J. A., Van Den Berg, P., Le, V. D., McElhany, A., & Temple, B. W. (2012). Teen sexting and its association with sexual behaviors. Archives of Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine,166(9), 828–833. https://doi.org/10.1001/archpediatrics.2012.835.
Temple, J. R., Strasburger, V. C., Zimmerman, H., & Madigan, S. (2019). Sexting in youth: Cause for concern? Lancet Child & Adolescent Health,3(8), 520–521. https://doi.org/10.1016/S2352-4642(19)30199-3.
Thompson, S. G., & Higgins, J. P. T. (2002). How should meta-regression analyses be undertaken and interpreted? Statistics in Medicine,21(11), 1559–1573. https://doi.org/10.1002/sim.1187.
Twenge, J. M., Sherman, R. A., & Wells, B. E. (2017). Declines in sexual frequency among American adults, 1989–2014. Archives of Sexual Behavior,46(8), 2389–2401. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10508-017-0953-1.
Van Ouytsel, J., Van Gool, E., Walrave, M., Ponnet, K., & Peeters, E. (2017). Sexting: Adolescents’ perceptions of the applications used for, motives for, and consequences of sexting. Journal of Youth Studies,20(4), 446–470. https://doi.org/10.1080/13676261.2016.1241865.
Van Ouytsel, J., Walrave, M., Lu, Y., Temple, J. R., & Ponnet, K. (2018). The associations between substance use, sexual behavior, deviant behaviors and adolescents’ engagement in sexting: Does relationship context matter? Journal of Youth and Adolescence,47(11), 2353–2370. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10964-018-0903-9.
Vasilenko, S. A., & Lefkowitz, E. S. (2018). Sexual behavior and daily affect in emerging adulthood. Emerging Adulthood,6(3), 191–199. https://doi.org/10.1177/2167696818767503.
Weisskirch, R. S., Drouin, M., & Delevi, R. (2017). Relational anxiety and sexting. Journal of Sex Research,54(6), 685–693. https://doi.org/10.1080/00224499.2016.1181147.
Wysocki, D. K., & Childers, C. D. (2011). “Let my fingers do the talking”: Sexting and infidelity in cyberspace. Sexuality and Culture,15(3), 217–239. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12119-011-9091-4.
Zemmels, D. R., & Khey, D. N. (2015). Sharing of digital visual media: Privacy concerns and trust among young people. American Journal of Criminal Justice,40(2), 285–302. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12103-0149245-7.
Acknowledgements
Dr. Madigan is Canada Research Chair in Determinants of Child Development. Cheri Nickel, MLIS, conducted the literature search. David Sidhu, M.Sc., assisted with the creation of forest plots. Both are affiliated with the University of Calgary.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Ethics declarations
Conflict of interest
The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.
Ethical Approval
This research was a quantitative synthesis of publicly available material. Thus, ethical approval from the authors' Institutional Review Board was not required.
Infomed Consent
Given the nature of this study, informed consent was not applicable.
Additional information
Publisher's Note
Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.
Electronic supplementary material
Below is the link to the electronic supplementary material.
Appendix
Appendix
Database: PsycINFO < 1806 to April 2018> |
Search Strategy: |
———————————————————— |
1 ((cyber or Internet or online) adj6 pornograph*).mp. |
2 (sex* adj6 explicit* adj6 (media or image*)).mp. |
3 (sext or sexting).mp. |
4 (nude adj4 (photo or photos or photograph* or picture*)).mp. |
5 (cell adj4 phone* adj8 (photo or photos or photograph* or picture*)).mp. |
6 (suggestive adj (image* or photo or photos or photograph* or picture*)).mp. |
7 cybersex/ |
8 1 or 2 or 3 or 4 or 5 or 6 or 7 |
9 limit 8 to (100 childhood < birth to age 12 yrs > or 180 school age < age 6 to 12 yrs > or 200 adolescence < age 13 to 17 yrs > or 320 young adulthood < age 18 to 29 yrs >) |
10 (teen* or adolescen* or youth* or child* or girl* or boy* or “young people” or “high school*” or student*).mp. |
11 8 and 10 |
12 9 or 11 |
13 limit 12 to yr = ”2000 -Current” |
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Mori, C., Cooke, J.E., Temple, J.R. et al. The Prevalence of Sexting Behaviors Among Emerging Adults: A Meta-Analysis. Arch Sex Behav 49, 1103–1119 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10508-020-01656-4
Received:
Revised:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10508-020-01656-4