TY - JOUR
T1 - Emotionally Tough, Sexting Rough
T2 - Investigating the Relationship Between Callous Unemotional Traits and Aggravated Sexting in 11 Countries
AU - Morelli, Mara
AU - Rosati, Fau
AU - Cattelino, Elena
AU - Urbini, Flavio
AU - Baiocco, Roberto
AU - Bianchi, Dora
AU - Laghi, Fiorenzo
AU - Gasseau, Maurizio
AU - Sorokowski, Piotr
AU - Misiak, Michal
AU - Dziekan, Martyna
AU - Hudson, Heather
AU - Marshall, Alexandra
AU - Truc Nguyen, Thanh
AU - Mark, Lauren
AU - Kopecky, Kamil
AU - Szotkowski, René
AU - Toplu Demirtaş, Ezgi
AU - Van Ouytsel, Joris
AU - Ponnet, Koen
AU - Walrave, Michel
AU - Zhu, Tingshao
AU - Chen, Ya
AU - Zhao, Nan
AU - Liu, Xiaoqian
AU - Voiskounsky, Alexander
AU - Bogacheva, Nataliya
AU - Ioannou, Maria
AU - Synnott, John
AU - Tzani, Calli
AU - Balakrishnan, Vimala
AU - Okumu, Moses
AU - Small, Eusebius
AU - Pavlova Nikolova, Silviya
AU - Drouin, Michelle
AU - Ragona, Alessandra
AU - Chirumbolo, Antonio
PY - 2025/2/3
Y1 - 2025/2/3
N2 - Background: Sexting is now widely acknowledged as a common sexual behavior among adolescents and young adults. However, the occurrence of abusive interactions, such as non-consensual sexting, warrants attention. Prevalence rates of non-consensual sexting vary among countries, influenced by gender and age. The present study examined the relationship between three facets of callous-unemotional (CU) traits (i.e., callousness, uncaring, and unemotional) and the sharing of non-consensual sexts across different relationship contexts (i.e., acquaintances, strangers, or partners). Method: Data were drawn from a cross-countries project encompassing 11 countries: Belgium, China, Czech Republic, Ireland, Italy, Malaysia, Poland, Russia, Turkey, Uganda, and the USA. The sample comprised 6093 young adults (3682 girls; 2401 boys), aged 13 to 30 (M=20.35; SD=3.63). Results: Results from a logistic mixed-model indicate that CU traits predict non-consensual sexting, with high callousness and uncaring, and low unemotional traits associated with non-consensual sexting involving partners and strangers. Younger individuals and women were more likely to engage in all forms of non-consensual sexting compared to older individuals and men. Conclusions: It is important to promote sexual education programs to increase emotional self-awareness and challenge gender stereotypes in order to reduce adverse outcomes associated with sexting.
AB - Background: Sexting is now widely acknowledged as a common sexual behavior among adolescents and young adults. However, the occurrence of abusive interactions, such as non-consensual sexting, warrants attention. Prevalence rates of non-consensual sexting vary among countries, influenced by gender and age. The present study examined the relationship between three facets of callous-unemotional (CU) traits (i.e., callousness, uncaring, and unemotional) and the sharing of non-consensual sexts across different relationship contexts (i.e., acquaintances, strangers, or partners). Method: Data were drawn from a cross-countries project encompassing 11 countries: Belgium, China, Czech Republic, Ireland, Italy, Malaysia, Poland, Russia, Turkey, Uganda, and the USA. The sample comprised 6093 young adults (3682 girls; 2401 boys), aged 13 to 30 (M=20.35; SD=3.63). Results: Results from a logistic mixed-model indicate that CU traits predict non-consensual sexting, with high callousness and uncaring, and low unemotional traits associated with non-consensual sexting involving partners and strangers. Younger individuals and women were more likely to engage in all forms of non-consensual sexting compared to older individuals and men. Conclusions: It is important to promote sexual education programs to increase emotional self-awareness and challenge gender stereotypes in order to reduce adverse outcomes associated with sexting.
KW - sexting
KW - non-consensual
KW - callousness
KW - unemotional
KW - young adults
M3 - Article
JO - Psicothema
JF - Psicothema
SN - 0214-9915
ER -