The Mental Health and Social Implications of Nonconsensual Sharing of Intimate Images on Youth: A Systematic Review
Open accessAbstract
In the past decade, the sending and sharing of sexual images among youth has become normalized. An associated risk of sharing sexual images is the images being nonconsensually shared among peers or uploaded online. This is the first review to systematically identify, summarize, and critically evaluate existing research on the mental health and social impact of nonconsensual sharing of sexual images (NCSSI) on youth. Database (MEDLINE, PsycINFO, PsycArticles, Embase, PubMed, Web of Science, Scopus) and manual searches were conducted to identify eligible studies. A narrative synthesis and a Mixed-Methods Appraisal Tool were used for quality analysis. Of 4,013 articles retrieved, 13 met the eligibility criteria. The findings suggest that NCSSI is associated with negative mental health and social repercussions. Five quantitative studies found evidence suggestive of increased depression, anxiety, and suicidal ideation in young people following NCSSI. The identified qualitative evidence highlighted a range of adverse impacts in the social lives of those affected, including associated bullying, harassment, and victim-blaming attitudes that many individuals face following an experience of NCSSI, which may contribute to a negative sense of self and exacerbate distress. Some of the identified studies used unvalidated tools to assess mental health outcomes, and mainly measured depression and anxiety. Most studies more broadly discussed the sharing of sexual images rather than NCSSI specifically. Future research should adopt a narrow focus on the impact of NCSSI and use validated tools to measure various mental health outcomes.
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Prior work has shown that CSAM harms are not limited to the moment of original abuse but continue through circulation, viewing, downloading, recontextualisation and re-exposure.
“Prior work has shown that CSAM harms are not limited to the moment of original abuse but continue through circulation, viewing, downloading, recontextualisation and re-exposure (Page et al. 2025; Salter et al. 2025; Schmidt et al. 2024).”
From Generative AI in child sexual exploitation and abuse: views from UK law enforcement (2026) · cites this paper as Schmidt et al. 2024
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The Mixed Methods Appraisal Tool (MMAT) version 2018 for information professionals and researchers
Hong, Q. N., Fàbregues, S., Bartlett, G., Boardman, F., Cargo, M., Dagenais, P., Gagnon, M.-P., Griffiths, F., Nicolau, B., O’Cathain, A., et al. (2018) · Education for Information · doi:10.3233/efi-180221 · Cited by 4,737 · cited 2× · see citing works
“However, due to the variety of study types and the different instruments to both measure the experiences of NCSSI and the mental health impact, direct comparison of the quality is difficult (Hong et al., 2018).”
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“Much of the research has discussed how heterosexual gender norms contribute to the sending of sexual images (Ringrose et al., 2021).”
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Cited by
Sorted by citations
Generative AI in child sexual exploitation and abuse: views from UK law enforcement
Demeocq, C., Taylor, A., Ross, B., & McFeeters, A. (2026) · AI & SOCIETY · doi:10.1007/s00146-026-03176-6 · Cited by 1 · see citing works
- Authors
- Schmidt, F., Varese, F., Larkin, A., & Bucci, S.
- Affiliations
- University of Manchester (GB)
- Greater Manchester Mental Health NHS Foundation Trust (GB)
- Corresponding author
- Schmidt, Felipa
- Venue
- Trauma, Violence, & Abuse
- Publisher
- SAGE Publications
- Published
- 2023-11-16
- Volume
- 25
- Issue
- 3
- Pages
- 2158-2172
- ISSN
- 1524-8380 (ISSN-L)
- 1552-8324
- PMC
- PMC11155207
- OpenAlex
- W4388730715
- Cited by
- 39
- References
- 10
- Citations by year
- 2026: 18 · 2025: 18 · 2024: 3
- FWCI
- 1.98
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- hybrid
- doi.org
- Licence
- Locations
- Trauma Violence & Abuse (publishedVersion, cc-by-nc)
- PubMed Central (publishedVersion, cc-by-nc)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Research Explorer (The University of Manchester) (submittedVersion, cc-by)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Stalking, Cyberstalking, and Harassment
- Social Sciences › Gender Studies › Gender, Feminism, and Media
- Social Sciences › Gender Studies › Sexual Assault and Victimization Studies
- Keywords
- youth, mental health, depression, anxiety, suicidal ideation, bullying, harassment, victim blaming, self-esteem, online sexual content
- MeSH terms
- Adolescent, Anxiety, Depression, Erotica, Female, Humans, Interpersonal Relations, Male, Mental Health, Peer Group, Crime Victims, Young Adult, Bullying, Suicidal Ideation
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