Department of Educational Studies, University of Potsdam, 14476 Potsdam, Germany.
National Anti-Bullying Research and Resource Centre, Dublin City University, C109 Dublin, Ireland.
Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2021 Mar 5;18(5):2597. doi: 10.3390/ijerph18052597.
Sexting among adolescents has triggered controversial debates among scholars and the general public. However, questions regarding the associations between different types of sexting, namely consensual, non-consensual, and pressured sexting, depressive symptoms, and non-suicidal self-harm remain. In addition, little attention has been given to whether demographic variables (i.e., gender, ethnicity, disability, sexual minority) might influence these associations. To fill these gaps in the literature, the present study was conducted. Participants were 2506 adolescents (ages 13-16 years old; M = 15.17; SD = 0.89) from eight high schools located in the suburbs of a large Midwestern city in the United States. Adolescents self-identified as female (50%), Caucasian (57%), approximately 15% reported that they had a disability they received school accommodation for, and 18% self-identified as a sexual minority. They completed self-report questionnaires on their sexting behaviors, depressive symptoms, and non-suicidal self-harm. Findings revealed that non-consensual and pressured sexting were positively related to depressive symptoms and non-suicidal self-harm, whereas consensual sexting was unrelated to these outcomes. Boys engaged in more non-consensual sexting compared with girls, girls were more pressured to send sexts compared with boys, and sexual minority adolescents reported greater consensual sexting compared with non-sexual minority adolescents. Moderating effects revealed that girls, non-minority adolescents, and non-sexual minority adolescents experienced greater depressive symptoms and non-suicidal self-harm when they experienced pressured sexting. These findings underscore the importance of considering various types of sexting and adolescents' demographic variables when examining the negative outcomes of sexting. Disentangling the relationships among different types of sexting, depressive symptoms, and self-harm aids in the development of evidence-based recommendations for sexting harm prevention and sexual education programs.
青少年之间的发色情短信行为在学者和公众中引发了争议性的辩论。然而，关于不同类型的发色情短信行为（即双方同意的、非双方同意的和被迫的）与抑郁症状和非自杀性自伤之间的关联问题仍然存在。此外，很少有人关注人口统计学变量（即性别、种族、残疾、性少数群体）是否会影响这些关联。为了填补文献中的这些空白，进行了本研究。参与者是来自美国中西部一个大城市郊区的八所高中的 2506 名青少年（年龄 13-16 岁；M=15.17；SD=0.89）。青少年自我认同为女性（50%）、白种人（57%），约 15%的人报告说他们有残疾，并因此获得了学校的住宿照顾，18%的人自我认同为性少数群体。他们完成了关于发色情短信行为、抑郁症状和非自杀性自伤的自我报告问卷。研究结果表明，非双方同意的和被迫的发色情短信与抑郁症状和非自杀性自伤呈正相关，而双方同意的发色情短信与这些结果无关。与女孩相比，男孩更多地进行非双方同意的发色情短信，与男孩相比，女孩更多地受到发色情短信的压力，性少数群体的青少年比非性少数群体的青少年报告更多的双方同意的发色情短信。调节效应表明，当经历被迫发色情短信时，女孩、非少数群体青少年和非性少数群体青少年的抑郁症状和非自杀性自伤程度更大。这些发现强调了在研究发色情短信的负面影响时，考虑各种类型的发色情短信和青少年人口统计学变量的重要性。厘清不同类型的发色情短信、抑郁症状和自伤之间的关系有助于制定基于证据的建议，以预防发色情短信的危害和开展性教育项目。
