Teen Sexting Has Surged in the U.S., Study Finds
Nearly 1 in 3 U.S. teens have received a sext and 1 in 4 have sent one, up significantly from 2019. Half of teens who sent a sext later received a sextortion threat, and 47% had their image shared without consent.
Nearly 1 in 3 U.S. teens (32%) have received a sext, and almost 1 in 4 (24%) has sent one, according to a new study published in the Journal of Adolescent Health. That is up from 2019, when 23% of teens said they'd received a sext and 14% had sent one.
Sexting involves sending or receiving sexually explicit images or video. These sexts can be shared without the sender's consent, potentially leading to embarrassment and bullying, and can be used for "sextortion" — threats to share a teen's explicit images unless they pay money, provide more images or sexual favors, or agree to other demands.
For the study, researchers surveyed nearly 3,500 13- to 17-year-olds about sexting and potential negative consequences. Among teens who had sent a sext, nearly half (47%) said their image was shared with others without their permission. Younger teens were at greater risk, with more than 60% of 13-year-olds saying their image had been shared without consent compared to 41% of 17-year-olds.
Sextortion also emerged as a common experience. Half of teenagers (50%) who had sent a sext said they later received a sextortion threat, and nearly a third (30%) who had received a sext admitted using it to blackmail another person.
These risks hinged greatly on the recipient of the sext. Compared to teens who only sexted with a boyfriend or girlfriend, teens who sent sexts to someone outside a current relationship had more than 13 times higher risk of having their image shared without consent and nearly five times higher risk of being targeted for sextortion.
Boys were more likely to have received (36% versus 29%) or sent (30% versus 18%) a sext compared to girls. Boys also were significantly more likely than girls to be a target of sextortion (55% versus 40%) and to have participated in sextortion (39% versus 19%).
"Our findings make it clear that sexting is not rare among adolescents – it's a common part of many young people's digital lives," said senior researcher Sameer Hinduja, a professor of criminology and criminal justice at Florida Atlantic University. "What is deeply concerning, however, is how often these experiences are tied to coercion, nonconsensual sharing and sextortion."
The study underscores the need to move beyond simple "don't sext" messages and instead provide youth with education around consent, boundaries and digital safety, researchers said.