Sexting and sexual behaviour in Australian adolescents
Tasha A. Falconer
A * , Sylvia Kauer B and Christopher M. Fisher B C
A Family Relations and Human Development, University of Guelph, Guelph, ON, Canada.
B Australian Research Centre in Sex, Health and Society, La Trobe University, Melbourne, Vic., Australia.
C College of Health and Biomedicine, Victoria University, Melbourne, Vic., Australia.
Sexual Health 20(1) 57-63 https://doi.org/10.1071/SH22129
Submitted: 12 January 2022 Accepted: 28 October 2022 Published: 1 December 2022
© 2023 The Author(s) (or their employer(s)). Published by CSIRO Publishing. This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License (CC BY-NC-ND)
Abstract
Background: Previous studies have tried to determine the relationship between sexting and risky behaviour to discover whether sexting fits into a deviance or normalcy discourse. This study investigated the relationship between sexting and sexual risk behaviours, contraception use and gender.
Methods: The design was a cross-sectional analysis of data from the sixth National Survey of Secondary Student and Adolescent Sexual Health, collected in 2018. There were 8263 Australian adolescents (aged 14–18 years). Participants were fairly evenly split by gender, and 73% identified as heterosexual. Participants were asked a series of questions about their engagement in sexting, sexual behaviour and sexual health behaviours.
Results: A total of 52% of participants had sent a sext in the previous 2 months, with most being text-based sexts. Sexters were 3.29 times more likely to have engaged in anal or vaginal intercourse, and 2.88 times more likely to have gotten pregnant than non-sexters. Sexters (M = 2.76) had significantly more partners than non-sexters (M = 2.35), t(3763) = −10.99, P < 0.001. There were no significant differences in STI rates, X2(1) = 0.38, P = 0.535, or contraceptive use based on sexting status.
Conclusions: Sexters are more likely to have engaged in sexual intercourse and have more partners than non-sexters. Sexting is not strongly associated with other risky behaviours. Evidence for differences between sexters and non-sexters in protecting against STIs and pregnancy was not found, as there were no significant differences in contraceptive use.
Keywords: adolescents, Australia, contraception, pregnancy, sexting, sexual behaviour, sexual intercourse, STIs.
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