Elsevier

Computers in Human Behavior

Volume 55, Part B, February 2016, Pages 706-716
Computers in Human Behavior

Literature review
Adolescents and self-taken sexual images: A review of the literature

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chb.2015.10.003Get rights and content

Highlights

  • Reviews motivational, lifestyle and personality factors of adolescent sexting.

  • Sexting is not always consensual and can vary in context, meaning and intention.

  • Sexts might enhance or initiate relationships or link to wider sexual risk-taking.

  • Females often face more negative experiences and outcomes.

  • Sexting should be contextualised within adolescent social/visual media practices.

Abstract

Despite increasing public interest and concern about young people's involvement in the self-production of sexual images (or ‘sexting’), there remains a dearth of research into their reasons for making and sending images, the processes involved, and the consequences arising from their experiences. This article reviews the motivational, lifestyle and personality factors influencing adolescent sexting practices and explores the research evidence within the wider context of debates around contemporary social and visual media cultures and gender. A systematic search of databases was conducted and eighty-eight records were identified for inclusion in the review. The findings reveal that sexting is remarkably varied in terms of context, meaning and intention, with the potential for consensual and non-consensual aspects of the activity. Whilst sexting can be a means of flirting or enhancing a sexual relationship, it can highlight potential vulnerabilities to victimisation or to participation in risky sexual practices. Sexting is also inextricably linked to social expectations of gendered sexual behaviours, with females often deriving less satisfaction from their experiences and being perceived more negatively by their peers. Further research linking adolescent motivations, well-being, relationships and lifestyles with the broader socio-cultural and media landscape will ultimately help drive understanding about the subject forward.

Introduction

In the last decade there have been considerable changes in the role that technology plays in young people's lives. Smartphones, in particular, enable adolescents to connect to one another, and to the world, through a range of social and visual media. Alongside the perceived benefits of online and mobile technologies, public concerns have emerged relating to young people's changing social communication practices. One adolescent practice to receive public attention is the self-production of sexual images (or ‘sexting’). Sexting can be understood as the sending or posting of sexually suggestive text messages and images, including nude or semi-nude photographs, via mobiles or over the Internet. Definitions vary however and some studies may also refer to the receiving of texts and images, or explore an aspect of image content or sexting behaviour such as forwarding or sharing images (for discussion, see Drouin et al., 2013, Klettke et al., 2014).

Despite an increasing number of studies aimed at identifying the prevalence of adolescent sexting, there remains a dearth of research exploring young people's motivations for sexting, along with their experiences of both making and sending images (see Döring, 2014, Klettke et al., 2014). The aim of this review is to provide a clearer, more detailed summary of the existing literature by focussing specifically on research findings and discussions around young people's sexting practices and the influence of motivational, lifestyle and personality factors on their experiences. With social media providing a platform for many adolescent social interactions and, increasingly, their sexual exploration and behaviours, the review will explore these behaviours within a broader developmental framework of adolescent online and mobile practices and debates around gender and social/visual media cultures, including risk and identity creation. These issues are crucial in highlighting the contemporary cultural and technological environment within which sexting takes place and in assisting with future academic research, policy development and practice.

Section snippets

Methodology

Given the ever-increasing wealth of media-generated and academic literature examining young people's sexting behaviours, there is a surprising lack of quality research providing adolescents with a voice to explain their motivations and behaviours. Previous systematic reviews have detailed sexting prevalence and the factors influencing participation across the age spectrum (See Döring, 2014, Klettke et al., 2014). However, as yet there has been no literature review specifically exploring the

Sexting prevalence: age, gender and sexuality

In the context of this review, sexting can be understood simply as the sending or posting of sexually suggestive images, including nude or semi-nude photographs, via mobiles or over the Internet. However in light of broad and varied definitions of the activity, there have been considerable social and legal implications around sexting behaviours as well as limitations for comparative work across research articles and studies (see Drouin et al., 2013, Lounsbury et al., 2011). In particular, there

Discussion and conclusions

This review has highlighted both the range of existing research and debate around adolescent and young adult sexting and the surprising lack of quality in-depth research aimed at exploring context, personality and gender within young people's experiences and consequences of the activity. Indeed, this review supports the findings of Klettke et al. (2014) whereby a number of methodological constraints are notable across the research field. These include a focus on survey data and self-selected

Acknowledgements

This literature review derives from a wider research project funded by the European Safer Internet Programme (2009–2013) as a Knowledge Enhancement Project. Grant Agreement Number SI-2012-KEP-411207.

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      Citation Excerpt :

      In sum, gaps in the literature to date on sexting in SSA mirror the gaps in the sexting literature broadly, and both suffer from a lack of standardized conceptualizations of sexting. Reviews of sexting studies conducted among adolescents in high-income countries found no consistent correlation between sexting and sexual practices (e.g., sex with multiple partners, contraceptive use, condom use, and sexual activity) (Cooper et al., 2016; Kosenko et al., 2017; Madigan et al., 2018; Mori et al., 2019). Similarly, recent sexting studies from SSA found no consistent correlations between sexting and sexual risk practices (Abrha et al., 2019; Baiden et al., 2020; Makgale & Plattner, 2017; Marume et al., 2018; Olatunde & Balogun, 2017).

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