Consequences and Predictors of Sexting Among Selected Southern Undergraduates

ABSTRACT

Objectives: The aims of this study were to assess sexting behaviors and consequences among selected Southern undergraduate students and to determine predictors of current sexting behavior. Methods: Data from 469 surveys were analyzed using descriptive statistics, t-tests, Spearman's Rho correlations, and regression analysis. Results: Most sexters perceived their overall sexting experience as positive. Although negative consequences were experienced considerably less frequently, these consequences were profoundly harmful. Positively perceived overall sexting experience and total number of sexual partners were predictors of current sexting status. Complementing the uses and gratifications theory, perceived overall positive sexting experiences reinforce sexting by fulfilling gratifications.

KEYWORDS:

• Adult sexuality
• cybersexuality
• sexual health promotion
• sexual attitudes and behaviors
• sexual communication

Conflict of interest statement

No competing interests exist for this study.

Acknowledgements

This study was completed without any particular source of funding to acknowledge. The authors have no financial conflicts of interest to disclose.

Ethical approval

Approval from the university's Institutional Review Board was granted to conduct the study involving human subjects. All procedures performed in studies involving human participants were in accordance with the ethical standards of the institutional and/or national research committee and with the 1964 Helsinki declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards.