Sexting and physical partner violence among nonheterosexually identified youth

Background/Purpose: This study examines patterns of sexting behavior and its association with physical partner violence among heterosexually and nonheterosexually identified youth (NHY).

Methods: In Fall 2010, 23,187 students were surveyed in 24 high schools in MetroWest Boston. Analyses included youth who dated in the past 12 months (76.9%). To assess sexting, youth were asked if they sent a sext image of someone they know (sender) or if someone sent an image of them (subject). Associations of sexting and physical partner violence in the past 12 months were compared among NHY (6.7%) and heterosexual youth (93.3%).

Findings: NHY were over twice as likely as heterosexual youth to send a sext (26.8% vs. 11.3%) and three times as likely to be the subject of a sext (16.3% vs. 4.9%). NHY were also over twice as likely to report being victims of physical partner violence (19.4% vs. 7.4%). Among both NHY and heterosexual youth, those who report sexting (either as senders or subjects) were over three times more likely to also report physical partner violence victimization. For example, among NHY, nearly half of sexting subjects also reported physical partner violence (44.9%) compared with 14.2% of nonsubjects. In comparison, among heterosexuals, a lower percentage of subjects (21.8%) and nonsubjects (6.6%) reported partner violence.

Conclusions: Sexting is associated with physical dating violence among all youth. However, the magnitude of the problem is elevated among NHY. The findings call for discussion of the role of sexting and ways to support healthy relationships in this population.