Sexting, pressured sexting and associations with dating violence among early adolescents

Many adolescents engage in sexting, the sending of self-made sexually explicit images, within the context of a romantic relationship. The aim of the current study is to contribute to the literature by assessing the associations between sending a sext to a romantic partner, asking for a sext from a romantic partner, and dating violence among adolescents, while accounting for gender and sexting-related pressure. Respondents included 694 early adolescents (47 % female, mean age = 13 years, SD = 1.15) who participated in a large school-based study in Nicaragua. Measures included dating violence victimization and perpetration, sending a sext to a romantic partner, asking for a sext and associated pressures. Chi-square tests assessed gender differences and linear regression analyses tested for associations with dating violence perpetration and victimization. Sending a sext to a romantic partner and asking the romantic partner for a sext were significantly associated with dating violence victimization among girls, but not among boys. Boys were more likely than girls to perceive pressure to engage in sexting with their romantic partner. Perceived pressure to send sexts and to ask for sexts within romantic relationships was significantly associated with dating violence perpetration for boys but not girls. Several forms of sexting are related with dating violence. Findings provide more insight in the gendered nature of sexting and have implications for sexual and relationship education.