Wayne State University, School of Social Work, Woodward Ave, Detroit, MI, 48202, United States.
Wayne State University, School of Social Work, Woodward Ave, Detroit, MI, 48202, United States.
J Adolesc. 2021 Dec;93:126-133. doi: 10.1016/j.adolescence.2021.10.010. Epub 2021 Nov 5.
Sexting has emerged as a significant public health issue. Sexting is associated with substance use and other sexual behaviors, such as oral and vaginal sex (Houck et al., 2014; Temple & Choi, 2014). Current studies on sexting are often cross-sectional, limiting the ability to determine the temporal order of sexting and sexual behaviors. Additionally, studies focus on samples of young adults (Benotsch et al., 2013). The current study extends the literature by examining sexting and sexual behaviors longitudinally among adolescents and examines race and gender differences that play a role in sexting.
The current study utilizes a prospective, 4-year longitudinal study of 1240 adolescents (aged 11-17) living in the Midwestern United States. Overall, the sample was 10% Black males, 11% Black females, 34% White Males, 31% White females, and 15% identified as Other. Analysis includes an autoregressive model with cross-lagged effects in MPlus.
Sexting (T1) predicted oral and sexual encounters (T4) for Black males, White males, and White females but not for Black females. Oral sex and sexual encounters (T4) did not predict any sexting (T1) for all groups. Therefore, analysis establishes sexting as an antecedent to sexual behaviors for Black males, White males, and White females. Sexting and sexual behaviors did not have a significant association for Black females.
This study identifies sexting as a precursor to sexual behaviors among adolescents. Therefore, when tailoring programs for safe sex among these populations, focusing on sexting may reduce other sexual risky behaviors.
发色情短信已成为一个重大的公共卫生问题。发色情短信与物质使用和其他性行为有关，如口交和阴道性交（Houck 等人，2014 年；Temple 和 Choi，2014 年）。目前关于发色情短信的研究往往是横断面的，这限制了确定发色情短信和性行为的时间顺序的能力。此外，这些研究侧重于年轻成年人的样本（Benotsch 等人，2013 年）。本研究通过在青少年中纵向检查发色情短信和性行为，扩展了文献，并检查了在发色情短信中起作用的种族和性别差异。
本研究利用了一项针对 1240 名居住在美国中西部的青少年（年龄在 11-17 岁之间）的前瞻性、4 年纵向研究。总体而言，样本中 10%是黑人男性，11%是黑人女性，34%是白人男性，31%是白人女性，15%是其他种族。分析包括在 MPlus 中使用具有交叉滞后效应的自回归模型。
发色情短信（T1）预测了黑人男性、白人男性和白人女性的口交和性接触（T4），但对黑人女性则没有预测。口交和性接触（T4）对所有群体的任何发色情短信（T1）都没有预测作用。因此，分析确立了发色情短信是黑人男性、白人男性和白人女性性行为的前因。对于黑人女性，发色情短信和性行为之间没有显著关联。
本研究确定了发色情短信是青少年性行为的前兆。因此，在为这些人群量身定制安全性行为计划时，关注发色情短信可能会减少其他性风险行为。
