Adolescents and Sexting: A review of the literature

Journal title MALTRATTAMENTO E ABUSO ALL’INFANZIA
Author/s Gaia Cucci', Maria Giulia Olivari, Emanuela Confalonieri
Publishing Year 2017 Issue 2017/2
Language Italian Pages 22 P. 119-140 File size 235 KB
DOI 10.3280/MAL2017-002007
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Despite the increasing public concern about adolescents’ involvement in sexting, the research on this theme is at the outset and the studies are mainly explorative. This review aims at providing a description of the existing literature contributions on adolescents’ sexting. The findings reveal variability in prevalence across the countries and the association with demographic variables. Results also show that adolescent sexting is associated with a range of health-risk behaviors. The role of individual, social and cultural factors is also described. Finally sexting seems to vary in terms of meaning and motives: It can be a new mean for adolescents to explore their sexual identity but it can also lead to negative outcomes such as, cyberbullying, grooming and pornography.

Keywords: Sexting, adolescents, sexual risk behavior, review.

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Gaia Cucci', Maria Giulia Olivari, Emanuela Confalonieri, Adolescenti e Sexting: una review della letteratura in "MALTRATTAMENTO E ABUSO ALL’INFANZIA" 2/2017, pp 119-140, DOI: 10.3280/MAL2017-002007