Washington D.C., Dec 26, 2018 / 18:04 pm
Teen sex may be down, but widespread access to smartphones is driving an increase in teen sexting, recent research has found.
According to an analysis of studies by JAMA Pediatrics, as many as one in seven teens, or about 15 percent, are sending sexually explicit text messages, while one in four teens (25 percent) have reported receiving sexts.
The analysis was compiled from the findings of 39 international studies dated between 2009 and 2016, with a combined total of 110,380 young participants with an average of 15 years of age.
"Sexting over the last decade has been on the rise, which is consistent with the rapid growth in the availability and ownership of smartphones," noted Sheri Madigan and Jeff Temple in an article about the study. "Teen sex, on the other hand, has been on the decline over the last decade."