IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/cysrev/v102y2019icp18-26.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

The associations between sex drive, sexual self-concept, sexual orientation, and exposure to online victimization in Italian adolescents: Investigating the mediating role of verbal and visual sexting behaviors

Author

Listed:
  • Marengo, D.
  • Settanni, M.
  • Longobardi, C.

Abstract

Adolescents' involvement in online sexual behaviors is influenced by their developmental need to explore, define, and assert their own sexual identity. Among these behaviors, engaging in sexting behaviors has been shown to have negative consequences for adolescents' well-being because it increases the risk of exposure to different forms of online victimization. Based on these considerations, the present study aimed to examine the associations between two types of sexting behaviors, namely, verbal and visual sexting, and three specific dimensions of adolescents' sexuality, namely, their perceived sex drive, sexual self-concept, and sexual orientation. Next, we tested the hypothesis that involvement in sexting behaviors might be a mediator of the link between sexuality dimensions and exposure to online unwanted sexual solicitations, and cyberbullying victimization. The sample consisted of 653 high school students (66.9% females, Mean age = 16.31, SD = 1.34). We found both verbal and visual sexters to be older, have a stronger sex drive, and sexual self-concept than non-involved adolescents (i.e., non-sexters; while visual sexters were more likely to report non-heterosexual orientation than were verbal sexters and non-sexters. Further, involvement sexting behaviors increased the risk of exposure to both cyberbullying victimization and unwanted online sexual solicitations. Regression analysis showed visual sexting acted as a mediator of the links between the sexuality dimensions and both forms of online victimization. These findings have practical implications for the development of programs aimed at educating adolescents and their caregivers about the negative consequences of the uncontrolled online sharing of visual sexts, as well as providing involved adolescents with the skills to cope with these consequences.

Suggested Citation

  • Marengo, D. & Settanni, M. & Longobardi, C., 2019. "The associations between sex drive, sexual self-concept, sexual orientation, and exposure to online victimization in Italian adolescents: Investigating the mediating role of verbal and visual sexting ," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 102(C), pages 18-26.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:cysrev:v:102:y:2019:i:c:p:18-26
    DOI: 10.1016/j.childyouth.2019.04.023
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0190740919301410
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.childyouth.2019.04.023?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Longobardi, C. & Settanni, M. & Fabris, M.A. & Marengo, D., 2020. "Follow or be followed: Exploring the links between Instagram popularity, social media addiction, cyber victimization, and subjective happiness in Italian adolescents," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 113(C).

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:cysrev:v:102:y:2019:i:c:p:18-26. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    We have no bibliographic references for this item. You can help adding them by using this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/locate/childyouth .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.