The increase in sexting among teens should inform sexting legislation, the researchers noted. However, given the increasing use of smartphones among children and the possibility that sexting may be a normal part of sexual behavior in the smartphone era, “efforts and resources to criminalize sexts should be redirected to educational programs on digital citizenship and healthy relationships,” they said. “Given that the mean age of first smartphone acquisition is 10.3 years, it is important for middle school educators, pediatricians, and parents to have ongoing conversations with tweens regarding sexting and digital citizenship.”
The meta-analysis’s results were limited by several factors, such as the focus on frequency of sexting alone and not on elements that might influence sexting behavior, as well as inclusion of relatively few studies on nonconsensual sexting.
The mean age was 15 years (range, 12-17 years). More than half of the studies were from the United States, followed by 12 from Europe, 2 from Australia, 1 from Canada, 1 from South Africa , and 1 study from South Korea.
The researchers had no relevant financial disclosures. The study was supported by the Alberta Children’s Hospital Foundation and the Canada Research Chairs Program.
SOURCE: Madigan S et al. JAMA Pediatr. 2018 Feb 26. doi: 10.1001/jamapediatrics.2017.5314.