Sexting as a predictor of sexual behavior in a sample of Czech adolescents
Keywords
adolescence
online sexual behavior
longitudinal
sexual development
Publication details
| Year: | 2018 |
| DOI: | 10.1080/17405629.2017.1295842 |
| Issued: | 2017 |
| Language: | English |
| Volume: | 15 |
| Issue: | 4 |
| Start Page: | 426 |
| End Page: | 437 |
| Editors: | |
| Authors: | Ševčíková A.; Blinka L.; Daneback K. |
| Type: | Journal article |
| Journal: | European Journal of Developmental Psychology |
| Publisher: | Informa UK Limited |
| Topics: | Risks and harms; Internet usage, practices and engagement; Wellbeing; Social mediation |
| Sample: | This study used data from a longitudinal research project aimed at analyzing the use of the internet and online risks among Czech adolescents. The threewave data collection with six month intervals started in June 2012 and was completed in June 2013. Using stratified sampling, 164 primary and secondary schools located in the Czech Republic were asked to participate in the survey, and 74 schools agreed with data collection. The longitudinal sample included 1134 participants (girls = 58.8%, mean age = 13.84, SD = 1.94) from 55 schools, resulting in a drop-out rate of 63%. Due to the racially homogenous structure of the Czech population, ethnicity was not measured. |
| Implications For Educators About: | Other |
| Implications For Stakeholders About: | Researchers |
Abstract
The purpose of this longitudinal study is to examine the relationship between teen sexting and offline sexual behavior. Using a sample of 1134 Czech adolescents aged 10–18 (Mage = 13.84, SD = 1.94, girls = 58.8%) from 55 schools, the latent growth model of offline sexual behavior with sexting as a time-varying covariate was employed. Participants differed at baseline for offline sexual behavior at both individual and school levels, and they varied in the growth rate of offline sexual behavior at the individual level. Only age and sensation seeking explained the variability at baseline of offline sexual behavior. The positive association between sexting and offline sexual behavior was not constant across time. However, sexting at baseline predicted offline sexual behavior a half year and one year later. Sexting may be treated as a precursor of offline sexual behavior.
Outcome
"Participants differed at baseline for offline sexual behavior at both individual and school levels, and they varied in the growth rate of offline sexual behavior at the individual level. Only age and sensation seeking explained the variability at baseline of offline sexual behavior. The positive association between sexting and offline sexual behavior was not constant across time. However, sexting at baseline predicted offline sexual behavior a half year and one year later." (Ševčíková et al., 2017, p. 426)
"The main finding of the current study suggests that sending sexts to a romantic partner was positively associated with subsequent offline sexual behavior among adolescents and thus provides more insight into the possible causal links of the association between sexting and offline sexual behavior that have been observed in several cross-sectional studies. Furthermore, the result of this study provides further support for the as yet poorly studied phenomenon that actively sending sexts may activate sexual behavior among adolescents." (Ševčíková et al., 2017, p. 434)