Department of Psychology, Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, VA 23284-2018, USA.
J Adolesc Health. 2013 Mar;52(3):307-13. doi: 10.1016/j.jadohealth.2012.06.011. Epub 2012 Aug 14.
Cell phone use has become more widespread over the past decade. Young adults are frequently early adopters of new technologies, including cell phones. Most previous research examining sexting, the act of sending sexually explicit or suggestive images via text message, has focused on the legal or social consequences of this behavior. The current study focused on the public health implications of sexting by examining associations between sexting, substance use, and sexual risk behavior in youth.
Young adults (N = 763) completed online questionnaires assessing demographics, cell phone use (e.g., texting, sexting), substance use, and sexual risk behaviors.
Sexting was reported by a substantial minority of participants (44%). Compared with their nonsexting counterparts, participants who engaged in sexting were more likely to report recent substance use and high-risk sexual behaviors, including unprotected sex and sex with multiple partners. Of those who engaged in sexting, a considerable percentage (31.8%) reported having sex with a new partner for the first time after sexting with that person. In multivariate analyses, sexting was associated with high-risk sexual behavior, after accounting for demographic factors, total texting behaviors, and substance use.
Results suggest that sexting is robustly associated with high-risk sexual behavior. Many individuals exchange explicit or provocative photos with long-term sexual partners, but at least some participants in this study were incurring new sexual risks after sexting. Additional research is needed to understand the contexts in which sexting occurs, motivations for sexting, and relationship of sexting to risk behavior.
在过去的十年中，手机的使用变得更加普及。年轻人经常是新技术的早期采用者，包括手机。大多数以前研究发现在性行为方面，发送包含性暗示的图像或信息的行为，主要集中在这种行为的法律或社会后果上。本研究通过检查性行为方面的发送色情短信、物质使用和性行为风险行为之间的关联，关注发送色情短信的公共健康影响。
青年成年人（N=763）在线完成了调查问卷，评估人口统计学、手机使用（如短信、发送色情短信）、物质使用和性行为风险行为。
相当一部分参与者（44%）报告了发送色情短信。与不发送色情短信的参与者相比，发送色情短信的参与者更有可能报告最近的物质使用和高风险性行为，包括无保护性行为和与多个伴侣发生性行为。在发送色情短信的参与者中，相当一部分（31.8%）报告说，在与那个人发送色情短信后，他们第一次与新伴侣发生了性关系。在多变量分析中，在考虑人口统计学因素、总短信行为和物质使用后，发送色情短信与高风险性行为相关。
结果表明，发送色情短信与高风险性行为密切相关。许多人会与长期的性伴侣交换露骨或挑逗性的照片，但本研究至少有一些参与者在发送色情短信后会承担新的性风险。需要进一步研究以了解发送色情短信的背景、发送色情短信的动机以及发送色情短信与风险行为的关系。
