Sexting among children and adolescents appears to be far more variable and less explicit than previously thought, based on the results of two studies published online Dec. 5 in Pediatrics. Sexting is defined broadly as the transmission via cell phone, the Internet, and other electronic media of sexual images.

In a survey, 149 of 1,560 young people (9.6%) reported appearing in, creating, or receiving nude or nearly nude images in the previous year.

Two separate studies have shown that the number of teens involved in ‘sexting,’ and the explicitness of texts and pictures sent, fluctuates.

"This study reveals that estimates of youth involved in sexting vary considerably depending on what activities are included in the concept of sexting. The percentage of youth who have, in the past year, appeared in or created sexually explicit sexual images that potentially violate child pornography laws is low (1%). But if sexting is defined as appearing in, creating, or receiving sexually suggestive rather than explicit images, the survey reveals 9.6% of youth who used the Internet in the past year [were] involved in this way," Kimberly J. Mitchell, Ph.D., and her coinvestigators wrote (Pediatrics 2011 Dec. 5 [doi: 10.1542/peds.2011-1730]).

Dr. Mitchell and her associates used data from the third Youth Internet Safety Survey (YISS-3) on sexting, among other technology-based problems. Data collection occurred between August 2010 and January 2011. YISS-3 was conducted via telephone surveys with a national sample of youth Internet users aged 10-17 years.

A national survey research firm conducted the sampling, screening, and telephone interviews. The main sample was drawn from a national sample of households with telephones developed by random digit dialing. At the end of data collection, 45 interviews had been completed by cell phone in addition to 1,515 landline interviews, resulting in a total sample size of 1,560. Eligible respondents were children and adolescents who had used the Internet at least once a month for the previous 6 months.

Interviewers first asked to speak with the adult who was most familiar with that child’s Internet use, and after receiving informed consent, interviewers asked a series of questions about Internet use. Then the interviewer requested permission to interview the child or teen. Interviewers told parents that the youth interview would be confidential and would include questions about "sexual material your child may have seen on the Internet."

Adolescents were asked five screener questions about three types of sexting involvement: receiving "nude or nearly nude" images; forwarding or posting such images; and appearing in or creating such images. Follow-up questions gathered details, including the content of the nude or nearly nude images. The screeners asked:

– Has anyone ever sent you nude or nearly nude pictures or videos of kids who were under the age of 18 years that someone else took?

– Have you ever forwarded or posted any nude or nearly nude pictures or videos of other kids who were under the age of 18 that someone else took?

– Have you ever taken nude or nearly nude pictures or videos of yourself?

– Has someone else ever taken nude or nearly nude pictures or videos of you?

– Have you ever taken nude or nearly nude pictures or videos of other kids who were under the age of 18?

When a young person responded positively to one of these questions, the interviewers asked if the incident occurred in the past year. Interviewers then asked extensive follow-up questions about up to two unique sexting episodes in the past year.

"Sexting may not indicate a dramatic change in ... youth sexual behavior. It may just make some of that behavior more visible."

Of those individuals who reported involvement in sexting, 39 (2.5%) appeared in or created images and 110 participants (7.1%) received images but did not appear in or create them. Of the 39 young people who appeared in or created images, 61% were girls, 72% were 16 or 17 years of age, and 6% were 10-12 years of age. Most adolescents created images of themselves (1.8% of total sample). Some were photographed by someone else (0.3%); and some photographed other young people (0.4%).

Of the 110 young people who received images but did not appear in or create them, 56% were girls, 55% were aged 16 or 17 years, and none were younger than 12 years.

One of the goals of this study was to determine how adolescents define "nude" or "nearly nude." Participants were asked whether the images "showed breasts, genitals, or someone’s bottom." Only 21 (54%) of the young people who appeared in or created images reported pictures that met these criteria; the same was true for 84% of the 110 youth who received images.

In most of the episodes, the person responsible – when it was not the respondent – was someone the young person knew. Adults were involved in a minority of the incidents, and they were all young adults aged 18-21 years. An aggravating component, such as alcohol or drug use, was involved in 31% of incidents. "The most commonly reported reason for incidents was ‘romance as part of an existing relationship’; pranks and jokes; or trying to start a relationship," wrote Dr. Mitchell and her associates at Crimes Against Children Research Center at the University of New Hampshire in Durham.

Twenty-one percent of the respondents who appeared in or created images said they were very or extremely upset, embarrassed or afraid, as did 25% who received sexting images.

"Our findings also raise the question of how sexting should be defined. As is often the case with popularly-inspired neologisms, the term sexting may be fatally compromised by its multiple and expansive colloquial use," the researchers noted. "Clearly, for many youth nude or nearly nude encompasses pictures that do not show naked breasts or genitals. Researchers and clinicians need to directly ask about the content of images."

Furthermore, "sexting may not indicate a dramatic change in youth risk taking or youth sexual behavior. It may just make some of that behavior more visible to adults and other authorities," they said.

In terms of disclosure, 28% of youth who appeared in or created sexting images and 28% who received images "either reported incidents to an authority (such as a parent, teacher, or police) or an authority found out in some other way," the researchers said.

Police Cases of Sexting

In the second study, Janis Wolak, J.D., and her coinvestigators at the Crimes Against Children Research Center empirically examined police-investigated sexting cases based on data gathered from interviews with investigators about a nationally representative sample of 675 sexting cases in 2008 and 2009 (Pediatrics 2011 Dec. 5 [doi: 10.1542/peds.2011-2242]).

The data about sexting cases were collected as part of the Third National Juvenile Online Victimization Study, which is a stratified national sample of 2,712 law enforcement agencies. The agencies were asked by mail if they had handled sexting cases from 2008 or 2009. Detailed telephone interviews were then conducted about specific cases. In addition, interviewers wrote narrative descriptions of cases.

Again, because the term "sexting" is imprecise in its meaning, the researchers used a more specific expression – youth-produced sexual images. Specifically, the agencies were asked if they handled any cases from 2008 or 2009 that involved sexual images created by minors (age 17 or younger) and if these images were or could have been considered child pornography under the statutes of the local jurisdiction.

U.S. law enforcement agencies handled an estimated 3,477 cases of youth-produced sexual images during this time period; approximately 2,291 law enforcement agencies saw at least one such case during that time.

Of cases known to police, 36% involved adults. In 50% of the cases, the offenders were young adults (aged 18-24 years). A total of 38% involved adults aged at least 25 years. In 10% of cases, the adults were 18- or 19-year-old high school students who legitimately belonged to adolescent peer groups that included minors. The remainder of cases were of a mixed nature.

"Estimates of youth involved in sexting vary considerably depending on what activities are included in the concept of sexting."

Thirty-one percent of youth-only cases involved nonconsensual, malicious, exploitative, or criminal behavior. Among these cases, 19% involved criminal behavior in addition to the creation, dissemination, or possession of sexual images – such as blackmail or sexually abusing a younger minor. The most prevalent factor in these cases was the distribution of images without consent (57%).

The remaining cases (33%) were termed experimental. Thirty-two percent of experimental cases occurred in romantic relationships (10% of total cases), while the majority (57%) of cases involved sexual attention-seeking (19% of total cases). The rest (11%) were incidents with no apparent sexual motivation.

When adults were involved, arrests occurred in 62% of cases. Arrests occurred in 36% of youth-only aggravated cases; 5% of youth-only aggravated offenders (n = 10) were subjected to sex offender registration. In the experimental cases, 18% involved an arrest.

"The diversity of cases identified in the study clearly undermines some reports that suggest sexting is relatively harmless or confined to dating behavior. Only 10% of cases involved images created for or sent to established adolescent girlfriends or boyfriends. At the other extreme, youth-produced sexual images played a role in criminal sexual relationships between adult sex offenders and minors. Such cases can be challenging to pediatricians, parents, and authorities because underage victims may have strong attachments to adult offenders and may not perceive themselves as having been victimized. To manage these cases effectively, clinicians must be sensitive to the perceptions of victims and not assume that youth will be eager to cooperate or see the situation as criminal," the authors wrote.

The authors from both studies have indicated they have no relevant disclosures. The studies were supported by grants awarded by the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention, Office of Justice Programs, U.S. Department of Justice.

Teen 'Sexting' Estimates Vary Widely