Sameer and I first collected data on teen sexting nearly a decade ago and found that 7-11% of 12-17-year-olds in the US had sent a sexually explicit image of themselves to someone else. About 15% had received such an image from someone else. Last year, we replicated this research and found that 24% of 13-17-year-olds had sent, and 32% had received, a sexually explicit image. Despite this increase, it remains true that a majority of teens in the US do not participate in sexting. We also found that it is relatively rare for teens to ask others for sexts (about one in five have done this), though nearly one-third (30%) had been asked by others to send a sext.
That said, those who do engage in sexting, open themselves up to significant risk of harm. Our new research found that among those who sent a sext others, nearly half had their image shared with others without their permission and/or were the target of sextortion. And not surprisingly, risk of non-consensual sharing and sextortion increased substantially when sexts were shared with someone who was not a current boyfriend or girlfriend. Specifically, youth who shared a sext with someone who was not a current boyfriend or girlfriend were more than 13 times as likely to have that image shared with others without their permission and about 5 times as likely to be the victim of sextortion, compared to those who only shared images with current romantic partners.
Overall, the findings point to the urgent need for comprehensive prevention strategies that move beyond abstinence-only messaging to include harm reduction approaches, social norming initiatives, and policies that balance legal accountability with developmental considerations. Educational efforts should emphasize that most students do not engage in sexting, but also appropriately prepare adolescents to recognize and respond to the growing prevalence of distressing sexual behaviors they may experience.
The full results of this new research will appear in the April 2026 issue of the Journal of Adolescent Health but is available online now.
If you can’t access the paper and would like a copy, just send us an email and we’ll send it to you.
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