Prevalence of sending, receiving and forwarding sexts among youths: A three-level meta-analysis

PLoS One. 2020 Dec 7;15(12):e0243653. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0243653. eCollection 2020.

Abstract

By systematic review with a three-level, mixed-effects meta-analysis, this paper examines the prevalence of sexting experiences among youths aimed at analyzing conceptual and methodological moderators that might explain its heterogeneity. A search was conducted of five bibliographic databases and grey literature up until February 2020. The risk of bias in primary studies was assessed. A total of seventy-nine articles met the set inclusion criteria. Mean prevalences for sending, receiving and forwarding sexts were .14 (95% CI: .12, .17), .31 (95% CI: .26, .36) and .07 (95% CI: .05, .09), respectively, expressed as fractions over one. Moderator analyses showed that all sexting experiences increased with age (e.g., the mean prevalence for sending sexts at the age of 12 was .04, whereas, at the age of 16, it was .21) and year of data collection (e.g., the mean prevalence for sending sexts in studies collecting data in 2009 was .07, whereas, in studies collecting data in 2018, it was .33). Subgroup analysis revealed that studies with probabilistic samples led to significantly lower mean prevalences for the sexting experiences of sending (.08, 95% CI: .06, .11), receiving (.19, 95% CI: .15, .24) and forwarding sexts (.04, 95% CI: .03, .07). Self-reported administration procedures also led to more homogeneous prevalence estimates than interviews. Prevalence estimates also varied according to the type of media content (e.g., the mean prevalence for sending sexual text messages was .22, whereas, for sending sexual images or videos, it was .12). Overall, our meta-analysis results suggest high and increasing prevalences of sending and receiving sexts among youths.

Publication types

  • Meta-Analysis
  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't
  • Systematic Review

MeSH terms

  • Adolescent
  • Adolescent Behavior / psychology*
  • Child
  • Humans
  • Prevalence
  • Self Report / statistics & numerical data
  • Sexual Behavior / psychology
  • Sexual Behavior / statistics & numerical data*
  • Text Messaging / statistics & numerical data*

Grants and funding

This work was supported by funding from the Government of the Valencian Community (predoctoral grant DOGV No. 7943, ACIF, 837 2017) and from the Spanish Ministry of Science, Innovation and Universities (PGC2018-100675-B-I00). CME also thanks the Government of the Valencian Community (DOGV No. 7943) for financial support for his research stay with the Meta-analysis Team of the University of Murcia (Spain), coordinated by Dr. JSM. Funders had no role in the study design, data collection or analysis, the decision to publish, or the preparation of the manuscript.