Nearly 1 In 3 Teens Sext, Study Says. Is This Cause For Worry?

Should teen sexting — the sending and receiving of nude photos — be considered criminal behavior or youthful indiscretion along the lines of spin the bottle and playing doctor?

Nearly 1 in 3 teens has sent a nude picture of him or herself to someone else, and more than half have been asked to do so, according to new research on nearly 1,000 Texas teens. The study, published Monday in the Archives of Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine, also found that teen “sexting” is strongly linked to actual sexual behavior.

About 77% of girls aged 14 to 19 who had sent a sext reported having had intercourse, compared with 42% of those who hadn’t sexted. For boys, 82% of those who had sexted had had sex, while 46% of non-sexters had done so. The study included teens in the 10th and 11th grades, with an average age of about 16 (the overall age range spanned 14 to 19).

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