International Journal of Academic Research in Psychology

search-icon

Sexting and Emotional Difficulties in High School Pupils

Open access
Sexting has recently attracted the attention of researchers. The aim of this study was twofold: (a) to investigate the prevalence of sexting among boys and girls, and b) to examine the relationship between different types of sexting and emotional difficulties in high school pupils. The research was conducted on a sample of 711 adolescents aged 14-19 years. The Sexting Behavior Questionnaire was used to assess sexting, while the Depression Anxiety and Stress Scales and the item of suicidality were used to assess emotional difficulties. The results of the study show that the most frequently reported type of sexting is sending sexually explicit content and the rarest is posting sexually explicit content. Boys are more frequently engaged in sexting compared to girls. Furthermore, pupils involved in sexting think about suicidal thoughts and suicide more often. The obtained results suggest that youth do participate in sexting and those who do have some negative thoughts, which emphasize the necessary for both a prevention and intervention approach for this population.
Ahrold, T. K., & Meston, C. M. (2010). Ethnic differences in sexual attitudes of U.S. college students: Gender, acculturation, and religiosity factors. Archives of Sexual Behavior, 39(1), 190–202. doi:10.1007/s10508-008-9406-1.
Angelides, S. (2013). Technology, hormones, and stupidity: The affective politics of teenage sexting. Sexualities, 16(5-6), 665–689. doi:10.1177/1363460713487289.
Boehnke, M. (2011). Gender role attitudes around the globe: Egalitarian vs. traditional views. Asian Journal of Social Science, 39(1), 57–74. doi:10.1163/156853111X554438.
Brown, J., Keller, S., & Stern, S. (2009). Sex, sexuality, sexting, and sexed: Adolescents and the media. Prevention Researcher, 16(4), 12–16.
Brown, T. A., Korotitsch, W., Chorpita, B. F., & Barlow, D. H. (1997). Psychometric properties of the Depression Anxiety Stress Scales (DASS) in clinical samples. Behavior Research and Therapy, 35(1), 79–89.
Burke-Winkelman, S., Vail-Smith, K., Brinkley, J., & Knox, D. (2014). Sexting on the college campus. Electronic Journal of Human Sexuality, 17(3).
Calvert, C. (2009). Sex, cell phones, privacy, and the first amendment: when children become child pornographers and the Lolita effect undermines the law. CommLaw Conspectus: Journal of Communications Law and Policy, 18(1), 1–65.
Chalfen, R. (2009). It's only a picture: sexting,‘smutty’ snapshots and felony charges. Visual Studies, 24(3), 258–268. doi:10.1080/14725860903309203.
Cohen, J. (1988). Statistical Power Analysis for the Behavioral Sciences. New York: Routledge Academic.
Crawford, J. R., & Henry, J. D. (2003). The Depression Anxiety Stress Scales (DASS): Normative data and latent structure in a large non-clinical sample. British Journal of Clinical Psychology, 42(2), 111–131. doi:10.1348/014466503321903544.
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. doi:10.1080/15546128.2012.650959.
Drouin, M., Vogel, K. M., 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), 125–130. doi:10.1016/j.chb.2013.01.039.
Dodaj, A. (2012). Social desirability and self-reports: Testing a content and response-style model of socially desirable responding. Europe’s Journal of Psychology, 8(4), 651–666. doi:10.5964/ejop.v8i4.462.
Döring, N. (2014). Consensual sexting among adolescents: Risk prevention through abstinence education or safer sexting? Cyberpsychology: Journal of Psychosocial Research on Cyberspace, 8(1), 9. doi:10.5817/CP2014-1-9.
Englander, E. (2012). Low Risk Associated with Most Teenage Sexting: A Study of 617 18-Year-Olds. In MARC Research Reports. Paper 6. Retrieved from http://vc.bridgew.edu/marc_reports/6.
Gordon-Messer, D., Bauermeister, J. A., Grodzinski, A., & Zimmerman, M. (2013). Sexting among young adults. Journal of Adolescent Health 52 (3): 301–306. doi:10.1016/j.jadohealth.2012.05.013
Henderson, L., & Morgan, E. (2011). Sexting and sexual relationships among teens and young adults. McNair Scholars Research Journal, 7(1), 31–39. Retrieved from
http://scholarworks.boisestate.edu/mcnair_journal/vol7/iss1/9
Hinduja, S., & Patchin, J. W. (2010). Sexting: A brief guide for educators and parents. Cyberbullying Research Center. Retrieved from http://www.cyberbullying.us
Houck, C. D., Barker, D., Rizzo, C., Hancock, E., Norton, A., & Brown, L. K. (2014). Sexting and sexual behavior in at-risk adolescents. Pediatrics, 133(2), 276–282. doi: 10.1542/peds.2013-1157
Jonsson, L. S., Priebe, G., Bladh, M., & Svedin, C. G. (2014). Voluntary sexual exposure online among Swedish youth – social background, internet behavior and psychosocial health. Computers in Human Behavior, 30, 181–190.
Katzman, D. K. (2010). Sexting: Keeping teens safe and responsible in a technologically savvy world. Paediatric and Child Health, 15(1), 41–45. doi: 10.1177/1473225411420533
Kri?ki?, D. (2016). Risky college student behavior in the context of new media. Master Thesis, Josip Juraj Strossmayer University of Osijek, Croatia.
Lenhart, A. (2009). Teens and sexting. Report, Pew Research Center, USA, December. Retrieved from http://www.pewinternet.org/files/old-media/Files/Reports/2009/PIP_Teens_and_Sexting.pdf
Levine, D. (2013). Sexting: A terrifying health risk or the new normal for young adults? Journal of Adolescent Health, 52(3), 257–258. doi:10.1016/j.jadohealth.2013.01.003
Lippman, J. R., & Campbell, S. W. (2014). Damned if you do, damned if you don’t. . .if you’re a girl: Relational and normative contexts of adolescent sexting in the United States. Journal of Children and Media, 8(4), 371–386. doi:10.1080/17482798.2014.923009.
Lounsbury, K., Mitchell, K. J., & Finkelhor, D. (2011). The true prevalence of "sexting”. Crimes Against Children Research Center, University of New Hampshire. Report, University of New Hampshire, USA, April.
Lovibond, S. H., & Lovibond, P. F. (1995). Manual for the Depression Anxiety Stress Scales. Sydney: Psychology Foundation.
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. Retrieved from http://www.cybercrimejournal.com.
Milner, A. J., Lee, M. D., & Nock, M. K. (2015). Single-Item measurement of suicidal behaviors: Validity and consequences of misclassification. PLoS ONE, 10(10),
e0141606. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0141606.
Mitchell, K. J., Finkelhor, D., Jones, L. M., & Wolak, J. (2012). Prevalence and characteristics of youth sexting: A national study. Pediatrics, 129, 13–20. doi:10.1542/peds.2011-1730.
Morelli, M., Bianchi, D., Baiocco, R., Pezzuti, L., & Chirumbolo, A. (2016). Not - allowed sharing of sexts and dating violence from the perpetrator’s perspective: The moderation role of sexism. Computers in Human Behavior, 56, 163-169. doi:10.7334/psicothema2015.193.
National Center for Missing and Exploited Children. (2009). Policy statement on sexting. News Releases from NCMEC. Retrieved from http://
www.missingkids.com/missingkids/servlet/NewsEventServlet?LanguageCountry=en_US&PageId=4130.
National Campaign to Prevent Teen and Unplanned Pregnancy. (2008). Sex and tech: Results form a survey of teens and young adults. Report, National Campaign to Prevent Teen and Unplanned Pregnancy, Washington, USA. Retrieved from
https://thenationalcampaign.org/resource/sex-and-tech.
O’Sullivan, L. F. (2014). Linking online sexual activities to health outcomes among teens. New Directions for Child and Adolescent Development, 144, 37–51. doi:10.1002/cad.20059
Patrick, K., Heywood, W., Pitts, M. K., & Mitchell, A. (2015). Demographic and behavioral correlates of six sexting behaviors among Australian secondary school students. Sexual Health, 12(6), 480–487. doi:10.1071/SH15004.
Ercegovac, R. I., & Penezi?, Z. (2012). Depression Anxiety Stress Scales. In Collection of Psychological Scales and Questionnaires. Zadar: University of Zadar.
Rice, E., Gibbs, J., Winetrobe, H., Rhoades, H., Plant, A., Montoya, J., & Kordic, T. (2014). Sexting and sexual behavior among middle school students. Pediatrics, 134(1), e21–8. doi:10.1542/peds.2013-2991
Rice, E., Rhoades, H., Winetrobe, H., Sanchez, M., Montoya, J., Plant, A., & Kordic, T. (2012). Sexually explicit cell phone messaging associated with sexual risk among adolescents. Pediatrics, 130(4), 667–673. doi: 10.1542/peds.2012-0021
Ringrose, J., Gill, R., Livingstone, S., & Harvey, L. (2012). A qualitative study of children, young people and ‘sexting’: A report prepared for the NSPCC. Retrieved from https://www.nspcc.org.uk/services-and-resources/research-and-resources/pre-2013/qualitative-study-sexting/.
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. doi:10.1080/02732173.2014.895642.
Runeson, B., Odeberg, J., Pettersson, A., Edbom, T., Adamsson, J. I., & Waern, M. (2017). Instruments for the assessment of suicide risk: A systematic review evaluating the certainty of the evidence. PLoS One, 12(7), e0180292. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0180292.
Ryan, E. M. (2010). Sexting: How the state can prevent a moment of indiscretion from leading to a lifetime of unintended consequences for minors and young adults. Iowa Law Review, 96(1), 357–383.
Strassberg, D. S., McKinnon, K. R., Sustaíta, M. A., & Rullo, J. (2013). Sexting by high school students: An exploratory and descriptive study. Archives of Sexual Behavior, 42(1), 15–21. doi:10.1007/s10508-012-9969-8.
Temple, J. R., Le, V. D., Van den Berg, P., Ling, Y., Paul, J. A., & Temple, B. W. (2014). Brief report: Teen sexting and psychosocial health. Journal of Adolescence, 37(1), 33–36. doi: 10.1016/j.adolescence.2013.10.008.
Temple, J. R., Paul, J. A., Van der Berg, P., Le, V. D., McElhany, A., & Temple, B. W. (2012). Teen sexting and its association with sexual behaviors. Archives of Pediatrics& Adolescent Medicine, 166(9), 828–833. doi:10.1001/archpediatrics.2012.835.
Tomazin, F., & Smith, B. (2007). The bully you can’t see. The Age Newspaper. Retrieved from http://www.theage.com.au/news/in-depth/the-bully-you-cant-see/2007/03/09/1173166983566.html.
Twenge, J. M., Sherman, R. A., & Wells, B. E. (2015). Changes in American adults’ sexual behavior and attitudes, 1972–2012. Archives of Sexual Behavior, 4(8), 2273–2285. doi:10.1007/s10508-015-0540-2.
Vandoninck, S., & d’Haenens, L. (2014). Preventive measures: ways to avoid problematic situations and negative experiences online. In the Meaning of Online Problematic Situations for Children. London: EU Kids Online.
Ouytsel, V. J., Gool, V. E., Ponnet, K., & Walrave, M. (2014). Brief report: The association between adolescents' characteristics and engagement in sexting. Journal of Adolescence, 37(8), 1387–1391. doi:10.1016/j.adolescence.2014.10.004.
Vrselja, I., Pacadi, D., & Mari?i?, J. (2015). Relationship between sexting and sexual risk behavior and some psychosocial factors. Psychological Topics, 24(3), 425–447.
Walker, S., Sanci, L., & Temple-Smith, M. (2013). Sexting: young women’s and men’s views on its nature and origins. Journal of Adolescent Health, 52(6), 697–701. doi:10.1016/j.jadohealth.2013.01.026.
Walrave, M., Ponnet, K., Van Ouytsel, J., Van Gool, E., Heirman, W., & Verbeek, A. (2015). Whether or not to engage in sexting: explaining adolescent sexting behavior by applying the prototype willingness model. Telematics and Informatics, 32(4), 796–808. doi:10.1016/j.tele.2015.03.008.
Wood, W., & Eagly, A. H. (2010). Gender. In Handbook of social psychology. New York: John Wiley & Sons.
Ybarra, M. L., & Mitchell, K. J. (2014). Sexting and its relation to sexual activity and sexual risk behavior in a national survey of adolescents. Journal of Adolescent Health, 55(6), 757–764. doi:10.1016/j.jadohealth.2014.07.012.
Yeung, T. H., Horyniak, D. H., Vella, A. M., Hellard, M. E., & Lim, M. S. C. (2014). Prevalence, correlates and attitudes towards sexting among young people in Melbourne, Australia. Sexual Health, 11(4), 332–339. doi:10.1071/SH14032.
In-Text Citation: (Dodaj et al., 2019)
To Cite this Article: Dodaj, A., Sesar, K., & Cvitkovic, M. (2019). Sexting and Emotional Difficulties in High School Pupils. International Journal of Academic Research in Psychology, 6(1), 1–15.