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La comprensión del sexting como una nueva forma de comuni-cación interpersonal es cada vez mayor; sin embargo, poco se sabe sobre si la incidencia, correlatos y resultados del sexting varían en función de si se realiza de forma voluntaria o no. En este estudio no experimental, nos proponemos investigar la prevalencia, los predictores y las consecuencias del sexting entre 310 jóvenes españoles, que completaron una encuesta on-line sobre sus experiencias previas de sexting deseado y no deseado, coer-ción sexual y victimización sexual online, así como sus niveles de satisfac-ción sexual y vital. Los resultados mostraron que la mitad y un tercio de la muestra habían estado involucrados en comportamientos de sexting desea-dos y no deseados, respectivamente. Además, lacoerción sexual y la victi-mización sexual online predijeron una mayor probabilidad de participar en conductas sexuales no deseadas y, con ello, una disminución de la satisfac-ción vital. Por último, haber experimentado mayor coerción sexual se aso-ció con menor satisfacción vital al aumentar la probabilidad de sufrir victi-mización sexual online y de participar en conductas adicionales de sexting no deseado. Nuestros hallazgos muestran la importancia de discernir entre el sexting deseado y el no deseado y cómo el hacerlo de forma diferente condiciona los predictores y las consecuencias de este fenómeno.(AU)

The understanding of sexting as a new form of interpersonal communication is increasing; however, little is known about whether the incidence, correlates, and outcomes of sexting vary depending on whether such behavior is done willingly or not. In this non-experimental study, we aimed to investigate the prevalence, predictors, and consequences of sex-ting among 310 Spanish young adults, who completed an online survey re-garding their previous experiences of wanted and unwanted sexting behav-iors, their sexual coercion and online sexual victimization experiences, and their levels of sexual and life satisfaction. The results showed that more than half and one third of the sample had been involved in wanted and unwanted sexting behaviors, respectively. Additionally, sexual coercion and online sexual victimization predicted a higher probability of engaging in unwanted sexual behaviors and, with that, a decrease of life satisfaction. Finally, having experienced more instances of sexual coercion was associ-ated with lower life satisfaction by increasing the likelihood of suffering online sexual victimization experiences and engaging in additional unwant-ed sexting behaviors. Our findings show the importance of discerning be-tween wanted and unwanted sexting and how doing so differently condi-tions the predictors and consequences of this phenomena.(AU)

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Prior research has demonstrated that online sexual victimization (OSV) is a significant social problem and is associated with adolescents' negative developmental outcomes. However, it remains unclear whether adolescents' risky online behaviors and offline victimization are related to the risk of OSV. The present study examined whether female adolescents' risky online behaviors (mood regulation through the Internet, ingratiating behavior, disclosure of personal information, harassing behavior, talking with someone met online, and sexual behavior) and offline victimization (adverse childhood experiences [ACEs]) would be associated with OSV. This study recruited female adolescents and their mothers within six metropolitan cities and provinces of residential areas of South Korea. A total of 509 female adolescents participated in the survey (aged 13-18 years). The present study employed multivariate regression to examine the relationship of risky online behaviors and offline victimization to the experience of OSV. Female adolescents' risky online behaviors (harassing behavior, talking with someone met online, and sexual behavior) were significantly associated with OSV, and those with high exposure to maltreatment and family dysfunction during childhood were more at risk of OSV than adolescents with low exposure to ACEs. The results suggest that it is important to address the effects of risky online behaviors and exposure to offline victimization on female adolescents' sexual victimization online. Identifying risky online behaviors and offline victimization related to OSV can help researchers and practitioners further understand female adolescents' online victimizations in the context of offline and online dynamics.

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INTRODUCTION: The aim of this study is to develop a new measure of victimization and perpetration of two frequent forms of image-based sexual abuse, namely sextortion (i.e., the threat of distributing sexual images to pressure the victim into doing something) and nonconsensual sexting (i.e., distributing sexual images of someone without the consent of the victim). Additional aims were to analyze the prevalence of these forms of victimization and perpetration and to examine their temporal stability over a 1-year period. METHODS: The sample was made up of 1820 Spanish adolescents (mean age = 13.38, SD = 1.42; 929 girls, 878 boys, 3 nonbinary, and 10 did not indicate gender) who completed self-report instruments on image-based sexual abuse and related variables (e.g., cyberbullying victimization). RESULTS: Confirmatory factor analysis supported a structure composed of the four hypothesized factors: sextortion victimization and perpetration, and nonconsensual sexting victimization and perpetration. Higher sexting, cyberbullying victimization, and symptoms of depression and anxiety had stronger associations with image-based sexual victimization than with perpetration, which showed evidence of concurrent validity. Prevalence was 2.6% and 0.7% for sextortion victimization and perpetration, respectively, and 3.4% and 4.9% for nonconsensual sexting victimization and perpetration, respectively. Temporal stability over 1 year was .26 for sextortion victimization, .19 for nonconsensual sexting victimization, .33 for nonconsensual sexting perpetration (all ps < .001), and nonsignificant for sextortion perpetration. The stability of nonconsensual sexting victimization was significantly higher for girls compared to boys, whereas nonconsensual sexting perpetration was more stable over 1 year for boys. CONCLUSIONS: Future studies must advance the analysis of the predictors and consequences of image-based sexual abuse among adolescents to better prevent this problem. Prevalence of sextortion and nonconsensual sexting is not negligible, and these problems should be particularly addressed in prevention programs.

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Introduction: In the past years, research regarding sexting behaviours and online sexual victimization has been rapidly growing, with literature examining the social, legal, psychological and psychopathological consequences of being coerced into sexting. However, up to date, there is little evidence exploring the psychopathological profile of sexting coercion perpetrators. The aim of this study was to examine differences in the psychopathological profile of sexting coercion perpetrators vs non-perpetrators, and, additionally, examining sex differences. Methods: The original sample comprised 1370 college students (including 74% females, mean age=21.40). The non-perpetrator subsample comprised 1247 participants (76% females, mean age 21.39) and the sexting coercion perpetration subsample comprised 75 participants (30% females, mean age=21.38). Results: Data indicated significant differences in the psychopathological profile between perpetrators and non-perpetrators, with the first group showing higher scores for different psychopathology scales. When examining sex differences intragroup, results showed significant differences between perpetrator males and non-perpetrator males for scales related with dysfunctional attachment, anger, frustration and social skills. Significant differences between female samples were only found for hostility. Finally, no differences were found between sexting coercion perpetrator males and females, with both groups showing similar psychopathological profiles. Conclusions: People who engaged in sexting coercion perpetration show a different psychopathological profile than those who did not report coercing someone into sexting, however, males and females coercers show similar psychopathological profiles. Further results and implications regarding psychopathological differences between examined groups are discussed. (AU)

En los últimos años, la investigación sobre sexting y victimización sexual online se ha ido incrementado rápidamente, con literatura que examina las consecuencias sociales, legales, psicológicas y psicopatológicas de la victimización causada por el sexting coercitivo. A pesar de ello, hasta la fecha no hay estudios empíricos que hayan examinado el perfil psicopatológico de los perpetradores de sexting coercitivo. El objetivo de este estudio ha sido examinar las diferencias en el perfil psicopatológico de los perpetradores de sexting coercitivo vs los no-perpetradores, y, adicionalmente, examinar las diferencias entre sexo. La muestra original estaba compuesta por 1.370 estudiantes universitarios (74% mujeres, media de edad: 21,40). La submuestra de no-perpetradores estaba compuesta por 1.247 participantes (76% mujeres, media de edad: 21,39) y la submuestra de perpetradores de sexting coercitivo contaba con 75 participantes (30% mujeres, media de edad: 21,38). Los resultados indican diferencias significativas entre los perfiles psicopatológicos de los perpetradores y los no perpetradores de sexting coercitivo con los del primer grupo, obteniendo puntuaciones mayores en las diversas escalas psicopatológicas. Cuando se examinaron las diferencias por sexo intragrupo, los resultados mostraron diferencias significativas entre hombres perpetradores y hombres no perpetradores para las escalas relacionadas con el apego disfuncional, la ira, la frustración y la ausencia de habilidades sociales. Entre mujeres perpetradoras y no perpetradoras solo se encontraron diferencias significativas en la escala de hostilidad. Finalmente, no se encontraron diferencias significativas entre perpetradores hombres y mujeres, indicando que ambos grupos presentan perfiles psicopatológicos similares. Resultados ampliados y las implicaciones de los mismos se discuten en más detalle en el artículo. (AU)

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Several cross-sectional studies have shown that online sexual engagement (OSE) in the form of sexting or sexy self-presentation on social media is associated with an increased risk of experiencing negative consequences, such as online sexual victimization (OSV) or lower levels of psychosocial well-being. However, representative and longitudinal studies are scarce. The current study follows three research goals: (1) examining the prevalence of OSE and OSV among a random-quota sample of 1,019 German Internet users aged 14-64 years, (2) examining gender and age-related differences in OSE and OSV, and (3) examining the longitudinal relationships between OSE, OSV, and psychosocial well-being over a period of 1 year. Our results indicate that OSE and OSV are relatively widespread: 17.7% of the participants had already experienced OSV, 25.3% indicated that they had presented themselves online in a sexualized manner at least once in the past 2 months, and 22.7% showed a certain willingness to engage in sexting. We found higher rates among the younger participants. However, to a certain degree, older individuals were also affected. Male participants showed higher sexting willingness and more often presented themselves in a sexualized manner than females, whereas only small differences related to OSV were found. Concerning relationships with psychosocial well-being, our cross-sectional results showed that OSE, OSV, and mental problems are intercorrelated. Furthermore, we detected a significant long-term relationship between higher sexting willingness at time 1 and more victimization experienced 1 year later, whereas no significant longitudinal associations with lower levels of psychosocial well-being were identified.

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The COVID-19 pandemic lockdown has impacted daily routines, forcing people to stop socializing in person and changing the way people express their feelings and their romantic or sexual interactions. Social distancing has changed the way people behave online, and we expect that engagement in sexting and online sexual victimization behaviors have increased during lockdown. The aim of this paper is to study the prevalence of sexting and online sexual victimization behaviors during the COVID-19 lockdown in Spanish adults in order to explore how social distancing has affected these behaviors. The sample comprised 293 Spanish adults (mean age = 30.3; 66.2% female) who took part in an online survey about their engagement in sexting behaviors and online sexual victimization experiences. Overall results were apparently not supportive of our main hypothesis, showing that both sexting engagement and online sexual victimization decreased during lockdown despite the increase in internet use. Apart from differences in time period of reference, some alternative hypotheses relate to the increased presence of capable guardians according to the routine activities theory and to forced distance as a demotivation to sext. Possible explanations and hypotheses for these results are discussed further in the paper.

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Female adolescents are particularly at risk of body image concerns. These individuals tend to make greater use of Social Networks and this could lead adolescents into behaviors that increase the risk of online sexual victimization (OSV). This cross-sectional study seeks to investigate the relation between body image concerns and OSV in a sample of female adolescents (n = 229) and the mediating role of three types of risky online behaviors in this link. Body image concerns predict OSV both directly and indirectly. Two of the three risky online behaviors proved to be mediators of the indirect link, namely: indiscriminate expansion of online network of contacts; and willingness to have relationships with strangers met online. Surprisingly, the third behavior, Sexting and Exhibitionism, was not shown to be a mediating factor between body image concerns and OSV. From our results emerges that adolescent girls with a negative body perception have a higher risk of OSV, and the relation between the two variables can be mediated by some risky online behaviors. It is likely that female adolescents use SNs more and adopt risky online behaviors in order to receive gratification and reassurance about their negative body image.

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Despite the growing body of research regarding sexting and online sexual victimization, there is little evidence exploring cultural differences in association with those behaviors. The aim of this study was to examine cultural differences in sexting practices by comparing an American sample and a Spanish sample of university students. The original sample was composed of 1799 college students, including 1386 Spanish college students and 413 American Students, with 74% of female participants, and ages ranging from 18 to 64 years old (mean age = 21.26, SD= 4.61). Results indicate that American students sext more than Spanish students and have higher probabilities of being victims of nonconsensual dissemination of their sexual content. However, Spanish students receive more sexts than American students. Although our results show differences between the Spanish and the American samples that might be modulated by cultural factors, the vulnerability of females regarding sexting remains unchanged. Additionally, differences in specific characteristics of the behaviors (such as perceived risk, receiver of the sexual content, intensity of the sexual content, and motive for sexting) were also studied. Further results and implications are discussed in relation to cultural differences.

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