Abstract
Sexting has become part of the repertoire of adolescents’ sexual behaviors, especially among those who identify as gender and sexually diverse. Whereas body dissatisfaction increases during adolescence and is associated with negative sexuality outcomes, little research has examined how body appreciation may contribute to adolescents’ sexting. The present study examined associations between body appreciation and sexting behaviors, and whether these differed by gender and sexual orientation, using path analysis in a sample of 2904 adolescents (Mage = 14.53; SD = 0.61) comprised of five groups: heterosexual cisgender and gender and sexually diverse boys (heterosexual cisgender = 1193; gender and sexually diverse = 157), heterosexual cisgender and gender and sexually diverse girls (heterosexual cisgender = 1152; gender and sexually diverse = 320), and non-binary adolescents (n = 18). Lower levels of body appreciation were associated with higher sexting frequency in heterosexual cisgender girls and gender and sexually diverse boys. Adolescents preoccupied with their appearance may use sexting for body image-related validation.
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Data Availability
The datasets generated and/or analyzed during the current study are not publicly available but are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.
Notes
Confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) was conducted with the three frequency items with the weighted least squares means and variance adjusted (WLSMV) estimator to examine the factor structure of the three items. According to the results of the CFA, the one-factor model had an excellent fit to the data (CFI = 1.00, TLI = 1.00, RMSEA = 0.00 [90%CI 0.00-0.00]), and the three items had high standardized factor loadings (ranging between 0.72 to 0.94) on the latent factor of substance use.
As an additional test of the robustness of the results, the final model (Model 2b) was tested with the addition of the mean score of sexting behaviors instead of including them separately in the model. Based on the results of this model, HC boys’ body appreciation was unrelated to sexting (β = −0.02 [95% CI = −0.07, 0.03], p = 0.446); HC girls’ body appreciation was weakly and negatively related to sexting (β = −0.06 [95% CI = −0.12, <−0.01], p = 0.047); GSD boys’ body appreciation was weakly and negatively related to sexting (β = −0.22 [95% CI = −0.40, −0.05], p = 0.010); GSD girls’ body appreciation was unrelated to sexting (β = −0.05 [95% CI = −0.13, 0.04], p = 0.252); and GSD non-binary adolescents’ body appreciation was unrelated to sexting (β = −0.28 [95% CI = −0.63, 0.07, p = 0.118), providing further support for the robustness of the study’s findings.
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The authors would like to thank Mylène Desrosiers and Camélia Dubois for their assistance with data collection.
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This study was supported by a grant from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) awarded to the second and fifth author, and a scholarship awarded to the first author by the Fonds de recherche Québécois – société et culture (FRQSC). This work was supported also by the Merit Scholarship Program for Foreign Students (PBEEE) awarded by the Ministère de l’Éducation et de l’Enseignement Supérieur (MEES) to the third author. The authors declare they have no financial or non-financial interests.
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M.M.P. contributed to the study’s conception and design, contributed to data collection, and drafted the manuscript; J.D. conceived the study and obtained funding, provided material resources, participated in the design and coordination of the study, and helped to review the manuscript; B.B. contributed to the study conception and design; performed the statistical analysis, and helped to draft and review the manuscript; A.G. contributed to the study’s conception and design, contributed to data collection and helped to draft and review the manuscript; S.B. conceived the study and obtained funding, provided material resources, participated in its design and coordination, helped to draft as well as review the manuscript, and offered supervision. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.
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Paquette, MM., Dion, J., Bőthe, B. et al. Heterosexual, Cisgender and Gender and Sexually Diverse Adolescents’ Sexting Behaviors: The Role of Body Appreciation. J Youth Adolescence 51, 278–290 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10964-021-01568-z
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10964-021-01568-z