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Sexting, Online Sexual Victimization, and Psychopathology Correlates by Sex: Depression, Anxiety, and Global Psychopathology

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Gassó, Aina M., Mueller-Johnson, Katrin, Montiel, Irene·2020·International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health
DOI 10.3390/ijerph17031018PMC PMC7036947
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Abstract

Recent research on sexting highlighted a relationship between this new technology-mediated behavior and psychopathology correlates, although up to date results are mixed, and so far, studies have often used simple and not clinically validated measures of mental health. This study aimed to investigate sexting behaviors, online sexual victimization, and related mental health correlates using clinically validated measures for global psychopathology, anxiety, and depression; and doing so separately for men and women. The sample consisted of 1370 Spanish college students (73.6% female; 21.4 mean age; SD = 4.85) who took part in an online survey about their engagement in sexting behaviors, online sexual victimization behaviors, and psychopathological symptomatology, measured by a sexting scale and the Listado de Síntomas Breve (brief symptom checklist) (LSB-50), respectively. Out of our total sample, 37.1% of participants had created and sent their own sexual content (active sexting), 60.3% had received sexual content (passive sexting), and 35.5% had both sent and received sexual content, with significant differences between male and female engagement in passive sexting. No differences were found between men and women in the prevalence of their victimization by nonconsensual dissemination of sexual content; however, women were more pressured and threatened into sexting than men. Sex differences in psychopathology were found only for depression prevalence rates but not for global psychopathology or anxiety. Furthermore, for male participants, our results showed a significant association only between online sexual victimization and psychopathology but not for consensual active and passive sexting. However, for the female participants, active sexting, passive sexting, and online sexual victimization were all associated with poorer mental health. Implications for prevention and intervention are discussed.

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  • When the sending of sexual content is unwanted or forced under threats of blackmail, it can lead to negative outcomes, such as greater discomfort, symptoms of depression, anxiety, and suicidal ideation and attempts.

    “When the sending of sexual content is unwanted or forced under threats of blackmail, however, it can lead to negative outcomes, such as greater discomfort, symptoms of depression, anxiety, and suicidal ideation and attempts (Gassó et al., 2020; Idoiaga Mondragon et al., 2020; Medrano et al., 2018; Morelli et al., 2016; Nilsson et al., 2019).”

    From Assessing image-based sexual abuse: Measurement, prevalence, and temporal stability of sextortion and nonconsensual sexting (“revenge porn”) among adolescents (2022) · cites this paper as Gassó et al., 2020

    The Results (§3.4) associate being pressured or threatened to sext with higher rates of depression and anxiety among women, but do not establish that coercion caused those symptoms. The Discussion (§4) reports suicidal ideation in a study of nonconsensual image dissemination, a different experience; the cited paper does not report suicide attempts or greater discomfort from being forced to send content. (LLM, conf=0.88)

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Cited by

Sorted by citations

Authors
Gassó, A. M., Mueller-Johnson, K., & Montiel, I.
Affiliations
  • Universitat Internacional de Catalunya (ES)
  • Center for Criminology, Faculty of Law, Oxford University, Oxford OX1 3UL, UK
Corresponding author
Gassó, Aina M.
ORCID
Venue
International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health
Publisher
MDPI AG
Published
2020-02-06
Volume
17
Issue
3
Pages
1018
ISSN
1660-4601 (ISSN-L)
DOI
10.3390/ijerph17031018
PMC
PMC7036947
OpenAlex
W3005374178
Cited by
88
References
6
Citations by year
2026: 14 · 2025: 14 · 2024: 13 · 2023: 14 · 2022: 18 · 2021: 12 · 2020: 3
FWCI
4.70
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Licence
Locations
  • International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • PubMed Central (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • RePEc: Research Papers in Economics (submittedVersion)
  • DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals) (submittedVersion, cc-by-sa)
  • Re-Unir (International University of La Rioja) (submittedVersion, other-oa)
Topics
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Sexuality, Behavior, and Technology
  • Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Stalking, Cyberstalking, and Harassment
  • Social Sciences › Gender Studies › Gender, Feminism, and Media
Keywords
sexting, online sexual victimization, depression, anxiety, sex differences, university students, sexual content sharing, mental health
MeSH terms
Adolescent, Adult, Anxiety, Depression, Female, Humans, Male, Psychopathology, Surveys and Questionnaires, Sexual Behavior, Sex Factors, Spain, Students, Crime Victims, Internet, Young Adult, Text Messaging

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