Sexting Among Australian Adolescents: Risk and Protective Factors.

Although consensual sending of sexts between adolescents is considered developmentally appropriate, it may also entail a range of negative consequences. Current sexting research lacks a comprehensive theoretical framework identifying a range of risk and protective factors underpinning adolescent consensual sending of sexts across individual, interpersonal, and distal levels. Further, there is a lack of systematic evaluation of how the importance of these factors may vary across adolescent age. This study investigated the utility of the Social Development Model to predict a range of risk and protective factors across individual, family, peer, school, and community-level factors. The sample included 1302 teenagers from Victoria, Australia (Mage = 14.54, SD = 1.14, 50.8% girls). Results indicated that 146 (11.7%) participants sent a sext (76 boys and 70 girls). Logistic regression analyses revealed that the Social Development Model accounted for 45.8% of variance in sexting, with greater likelihood of sending sexts being associated with older age, prior sexual activity, school sector, physical activity, lifetime substance use, greater depressive symptoms, sensation seeking, and perceived substance availability in the community. Multigroup analyses revealed that lifetime substance use was associated with a greater likelihood of sending sexts among younger teens. Among older adolescents, adaptive coping was associated with reduced engagement in sexting, while higher parental overcontrol and family conflict increased the odds of sending sexts. Overall, sexting is associated with a range of modifiable factors potentially amenable to intervention.

The Role of Consent and Motivations in Sext Dissemination.

Sext dissemination (i.e., the online sharing of sexually explicit images) has the potential to result in legal, social, and psychological harms. Recent research has shown that this behavior can be consensual or non-consensual in nature; yet little is known about how motivations or attitudes may differ between these forms, or with gender. This study is based on a cross-sectional online survey investigating consensual and non-consensual sext dissemination and associated demographic, behavioral, attitudinal, and psychological factors. Participants were 2,126 cisgendered adults aged 18 to 30 years (M = 22.97, SD = 3.21, 55% women, 45% men), resident in Western, English-speaking nations, particularly Australia. Around 10% of respondents reported disseminating texts, and of these, only 19.8% indicated they had permission for this, with no differences across gender. When sexts were disseminated "to gossip," this was significantly more likely to be non-consensual. There were no significant differences between consensual and non-consensual dissemination in subjective attitudes or norms toward dissemination, nor levels of psychological distress. Women were more likely to non-consensually disseminate sexts that had been received as unwanted or unwelcome. Consensual dissemination was weakly associated with being sexually active and having given consent to having one's own images disseminated. We discuss implications for future research regarding consent, and relationship and sexuality education.

Sexting with benefits? Exploration of sexting behaviours through the lens of protection motivation theory.

Sexting is a common form of sexual communication that is often considered normative and beneficial despite some research highlighting its negative social, psychological, and legal repercussions. Using protection motivation theory (PMT), this study examines how young adults weigh the pros and cons of sending consensual sexts, sexting under pressure, and deciding against sending sexts, and whether body image dissatisfaction interacts with any of the decision-making processes. In total, 906 participants (554, 61.14% women), aged 18-25 years (M = 21.65, SD = 2.01), completed an online measure of sexting behaviours, body image, and protection motivation. Overall, 71.41% of respondents ever sent a sext. Of those, 45.07% and 36.32% felt pressure to sext or sent a sext because of pressure. Further, 63.90% participants ever considered and decided not to send a sext. All models predicting various sexting behaviours were significant and provided a partial support for the PMT. Body image was a unique predictor of 'pressured' sexting but its interactions with the PMT subscales for pressured sexting and decisions against sexting were non-significant. Our study illustrates the need for increasing young people's self-efficacy and body image to improve their sexting agency and experience.

Just Checking It Out? Motivations for and Behavioral Associations With Visiting "Slutpages" in the United States and Australia.

"Slutpages" are a pernicious form of online image-based evaluative voyeurism (OIBEV), whereby (sexualized) images of women are posted on webpages for (predominantly) male groups to rate and comment. Despite media and public concern, OIBEV sites have garnered limited empirical study. This paper presents the first analysis of OIBEV site visitation motivations across United States and Australian samples. Participants comprised a convenience sample of 1148 young adults aged 18 to 29 years (M = 22.54, SD = 2.50); 53.0% women, 47.0% men; 54% residing in the U.S. and 46% in Australia. Respondents completed an online questionnaire. Overall, 23% of United States and 16% of Australian respondents had visited OIBEV sites. OIBEV site visitation was uniquely associated with gender and country (with men and United States being more likely to visit OIBEV sites), requesting and disseminating sexts and having one's own image shared. Cyberbullying perpetration was associated with reduced odds of OIBEV site visitation. Motivations differed by gender, with men (80%) being most likely to visit sites to "check them out" while women were equally likely to check it out (41%) or to see if they were depicted (36%). For men, unique predictors of OIBEV site visitation were having requested, disseminated and received disseminated sexts, lower levels of anxiety and reduced likelihood of cyberbullying perpetration. For women, OIBEV site visitation was uniquely associated with being a United States resident, sext dissemination victimization, receipt of disseminated sexts, higher levels of anxiety but reduced stress. Our findings confirm that OIBEV sites represent a highly gendered form of online image-based sexual abuse, and may have important mental health implications, given the associations with increased anxiety. Our results support the need for "slutpage" education for adolescents and young adults to address social and peer norms that encourage and support non-consensual use of intimate images.

Sext Dissemination: Differences across Nations in Motivations and Associations.

Sext dissemination presents policy and legislative challenges given its potential psychological, social, and legal harms. We report on a cross-national comparison of sext-image dissemination in a large sample of 1148 young adults aged 18-29 years (M = 22.54, SD = 2.50, 53.0% women, 47.0% men), either U.S. (53.8%) or Australian (46.2%) residents. The results indicate that 14% of young adults disseminated sexts, with no difference by gender or country. Over 50% of respondents indicated that the last time they received a disseminated sext, it was unexpected or unwelcome, with women twice as likely as men to receive unwelcome sexts. The most frequent motivations for sext dissemination were similar cross-nationally, relating to the attractiveness of the person depicted, as a joke, to gossip, because it was not a big deal, bragging, roasting or teasing, and to increase social status. Motivations of attractiveness, bragging, or social status were more commonly endorsed by men, while women endorsed reasons around gossip or roasting/teasing. Unique predictors of sext dissemination included U.S. residence, requesting sexts, receiving disseminated sexts, having one's own images disseminated, and more positive subjective norms to dissemination, and there was a country-gender interaction, where Australian women and U.S. men were more likely to disseminate sexts than then U.S. women or Australian men. The findings have implications for prevention programs seeking to address harmful online sexual interactions, including addressing respect, consent, and subjective norms supporting non-consensual dissemination.

Trait body image flexibility as a predictor of body image states in everyday life of young Australian women.

The present study evaluated whether individuals with varying levels of trait body image flexibility differ in the severity, variability, and correlates of state body dissatisfaction experienced in their daily lives. One hundred and forty-seven women completed a baseline measure of trait body image flexibility, followed by a 7-day ecological momentary assessment phase in which participants self-reported state body dissatisfaction, disordered eating behavior, drive for thinness, and appearance comparisons at 10 semi-random intervals daily. Higher trait body image flexibility predicted lower average scores, less frequent reporting of high state body dissatisfaction, and less variability in their state body dissatisfaction ratings. Individuals with higher trait body image flexibility were also less likely to engage in a range of behaviors and cognitions previously shown to produce body dissatisfaction, including upward appearance comparisons, drive for thinness, binge eating, and dieting. However, few of these state-based relationships involving body dissatisfaction and these related behaviors and cognitions were moderated by trait body image flexibility. Overall, this pattern of findings suggests that body image flexible individuals may have less negative body image because they are less inclined to engage in behaviors and cognitions in their daily lives that encourage negative body image.