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Behavioral Indicators and Behaviors Related to Sexting Among Undergraduate Students

Background Empirical studies on sexting are limited, and many sexting studies only assessed sexting behaviors. Few studies have assessed attitudes, subjective norms, or behavioral intentions related to sexting. Purpose The purpose of this study was to assess attitudes, subjective norms, behavioral intentions, and behaviors related to sexting (i.e., sending, posting, or sharing/forwarding sexually suggestive messages, nude/seminude pictures/videos, or both) among selected undergraduate students and to determine whether statistically significant differences in variables mentioned above existed based on selected demographic variables (i.e., gender, current relationship status, lifetime sexual partners, and current sexual partners). Methods Nearly 700 surveys (n = 697) were completed by selected undergraduate students. Independent sample t tests were used determine differences in attitudes, subjective norms, behavioral intentions, and behaviors related to sexting based on gender. One-way analyses of variance were used to calculate differences in attitudes, subjective norms, behavioral intentions, and behaviors related to sexting based on relationships status. Spearman's rho correlations were computed to determine the relationship between attitudes, subjective norms, behavioral intentions, and behaviors related to sexting and total and current number of sexual partners. Results Most of this study's participants were engaged in at least one sexting behavior in their lifetime (80.9%) and nearly half (48.5%) of all participants were currently “sextually active,” engaging in some type of sexting behavior within the past 30 days. Statistically significant differences were found for gender and all variables, current relationship status and sexting behaviors, and sexting behaviors and number of lifetime sexual partners. Statistically significant positive relationships were found among attitudes toward sexting, subjective norms toward sexting, sexting behavioral intentions, and sexting behaviors. Discussion Even though media portrays sexting as a risky behavior to avoid, sexting behaviors still remain prevalent among these selected undergraduates. Translation to Health Education Practice Future research should explore more in-depth reasons for sexting/not sexting as well as benefits of sexting among consensual adults, paying particular attention to how sexting is used for sexual communication and sexual assertiveness.