Is sexting bad for adolescent girls’ psychological well-being? A longitudinal assessment in middle to late adolescence

Scientific paper - Original scientific paper

• Author: Jakov Burić
• Author: Justin R Garcia
• Author: Aleksandar Štulhofer https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5138-3644
• Author's institution: University of Zagreb; Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences; (Department of Sociology)
• Scientific / art field, discipline and subdiscipline: SOCIAL SCIENCES; Sociology; Specific Sociologies

Abstract (english)

Sexting, the digital transmission of sexual messages and images, has become a topic of increased interest and concern. Drawing largely on cross-sectional studies, the literature on associations between sexting and psychosocial outcomes remains inconsistent. The current longitudinal study investigated associations between adolescent girls’ sexting and two indicators of psychological well-being: symptoms of depression/anxiety and self-esteem. Responses were collected from a panel sample of 859 female Croatian secondary-school students over a 20-month period, across five classroom-based data collection points. Multi-domain latent growth curve modeling indicated that sexting dynamics were unrelated to changes in psychological well-being. Adverse family environment and, to a lesser extent, participants’ peer conformism were related to more frequent sexting and lower levels of psychological well-being. Our findings support the notion that in general adolescent girls’ sexting may be a (non-pathological) part of sexual development during middle to late adolescence in today’s digital age.

• Keywords (english): Adolescence; computer-mediated communication; psychological well-being; sexting
• Language: english
• Publication type: Scientific paper - Original scientific paper
• Publication status: Published
• Peer review: Peer review - international
• Publication version: Accepted version
• Journal title: New Media & Society
• Numbering: vol. -, 10.1177/1461444820931091
• p-ISSN: 1461-4448
• e-ISSN: 1461-7315
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/1461444820931091
• URN:NBN: urn:nbn:hr:131:085737
• Publication: 2020-06-04
• Project: Number: IP-2013-11-9221; Title (croatian): Prospektivno biopsihosocijalno istraživanje utjecaja seksualno eksplicitnih materijala na socijalizaciju i zdravlje mladih; Acronym: PROBIOPS SEM STUDY; Leader: Aleksandar Štulhofer; Jurisdiction: Croatia; Funding stream: IP
• Document URL: http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/1461444820931091
• Type of resource: Text
• Access conditions: Open access
• Created on: 2020-06-04 13:35:03