- Most parents recognised sexting as sharing sexual photos or videos (81.1%) or sexual messages (76.9%).
- Nearly 70% of parents believed sexting was harmful to children.
- Perceptions and concerns differed significantly by parental education, race or ethnicity, and sex, suggesting tailored prevention messaging.
J Child Fam Stud. 2025 Nov;34(11):2891-2898. doi: 10.1007/s10826-025-03175-z. Epub 2025 Sep 18.
ABSTRACT
Sexting is commonly defined as sending or receiving sexually explicit messages, photos, or videos via cell phone or other digital technology. Understanding parental and caregiver perceptions and concerns about sexting among children is essential to inform health prevention and promotion efforts for safe technology use among children. This study provides a descriptive analysis of parental/caregiver perceptions and concerns about children’s sexting in the United States. Analyses of 2018 and 2019 Fall ConsumerStyles online panel survey data (N = 1,034) were conducted to assess parental/caregiver perceptions and concerns about children’s sexting by parent’s/caregiver’s education level, race/ethnicity, and sex. Differences among demographic groups were assessed using Chi-square tests. Most parents and caregivers reported sexting included sharing sexual photos or videos (81.1%) or sexual messages (76.9%), and it was harmful (69.9%). Statistically significant differences in parental/caregiver perceptions and concerns about children’s sexting across parental/caregiver demographic groups were identified. Therefore, continued education resources for parents and other primary adult caregivers on children’s sexting could benefit from considering the best channels to share prevention messaging across different demographic groups.
PMID:42948527 | PMC:PMC13713038 | DOI:10.1007/s10826-025-03175-z
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