title: Sexting among young adults.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Sexting has stirred debate over its legality and safety, but few researchers have documented the relationship between sexting and health. We describe the sexting behavior of young adults in the United States, and examine its association with sexual behavior and psychological well-being.
  
  
  METHODS
  Using an adapted Web version of respondent-driven sampling, we recruited a sample of U.S. young adults (aged 18-24 years, N = 3,447). We examined participant sexting behavior using four categories of sexting: (1) nonsexters, (2) receivers, (3) senders, and (4) two-way sexters. We then assessed the relationships between sexting categories and sociodemographic characteristics, sexual behavior, and psychological well-being.
  
  
  RESULTS
  More than half (57%) of the respondents were nonsexters, 28.2% were two-way sexters, 12.6% were receivers, and 2% were senders. Male respondents were more likely to be receivers than their female counterparts. Sexually active respondents were more likely to be two-way sexters than non-sexually active ones. Among participants who were sexually active in the past 30 days, we found no differences across sexting groups in the number of sexual partners or the number of unprotected sex partners in the past 30 days. We also found no relationship between sexting and psychological well-being.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Our results suggest that sexting is not related to sexual risk behavior or psychological well-being. We discuss the findings of this study and propose directions for further research on sexting.
authors.affiliation: Prevention Research Center of Michigan, University of Michigan School of Public Health, Ann Arbor, MI 48109, USA.
authors.forename: Deborah
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Gordon-Messer
authors.forename: Jose Arturo
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: Bauermeister
authors.forename: Alison
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Grodzinski
authors.forename: Marc
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Zimmerman
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000294:Adolescent Behavior / Q000523:psychology*; D040421:Cell Phone; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D010549:Personal Satisfaction; D010781:Photography; D012737:Sex Factors; D012725:Sexual Behavior; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D014481:United States; D014741:Video Recording; D055815:Young Adult