A Daily and Cross-Sectional Examination of Sexting Amongst Adolescents
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Authors
Novick, Jake R.
Date
Type
thesis
Language
eng
Keyword
Sexting , Adolescents , Daily Diary , LGBTQ+ , LGBTQ+
Alternative Title
Abstract
Sexting is the digital exchange of sexually explicit texts, photos, or videos (Van Ouytsel et al., 2015) and has been associated with positive and negative outcomes (e.g., relationship satisfaction, damaged reputation, and positive and negative emotions; Parker et al., 2013; Houck et al., 2014; Reed et al., 2020). This thesis comprised two studies that examine whether sexting is associated with benefits or harm on a daily level (daily affect) and a cross-sectional level (e.g., general life satisfaction). Study 1 examined whether daily sexting was associated with a change in positive and negative affect, which revealed nonsignificant associations. These null findings may reflect conceptual and methodological issues such as an imperfect measure of sending and receiving behaviours within sexting, as well as limited sampling of sexting and affect throughout the studies. The implication of this study is for future daily research to include more specific and repeated measurements of sexting and affect to best elucidate their relationship.
Study 2 utilized a person-centre approach to identify different classes of sexting based on varying risk behaviours, and whether latent classes were differentially associated with health outcomes. I found that three classes emerged: no/limited-risk, low-risk, and high-risk sexting classes and these classes were not differentially associated with outcomes. Further, I found that LGBTQ+ adolescents were more likely than cis-gender heterosexual (CGH) adolescents to be involved in higher-risk sexting. The results of this thesis highlight the importance of future research accurately conceptualizing and measuring sexting as a multidimensional sexual behaviour, as well as specifically examining the experience of sexting amongst LGBTQ+ youth.