Sexting teens more likely to have sex
Sep 17, 2012, 6:41 AM | Updated: 8:42 am
A new study finds one out of every seven Los Angeles high schoolers with a cell phone has sent a sexually-explicit text message or photo. And it says "sexters" are more likely to engage in risky sex behaviors. (AP Photo/file)
(AP Photo/file)
Teens who send sexually related text messages are far more likely to have sex, according to a new study of Los Angeles high-schoolers.
The study, published Monday in the journal Pediatrics, finds one out of every seven Los Angeles high schoolers with a cell phone has sent a sexually-explicit text message or photo. And it says “sexters” are more likely to engage in risky sex behaviors.
In the new study, the Los Angeles teens who had sent racy texts were seven times more likely to be sexually active than those who said they’d never sexted.
“This study is the first to show what teens are doing with their cellphones and what they’re doing with their bodies,” said Eric Rice, assistant professor at the School of Social Work at the University of Southern California, and the lead author of the study.
“What we really wanted to know is, is there a link between sexting and taking risks with your body? And the answer is a pretty resounding ‘yes,'” he told Reuters Health.
The study also found more than half of the teens in the study knew someone who sexted, and teens who sexted were seventeen times more likely to have friends who sext.
