Victimization as a Result of Non-Consensual Dissemination of Sexting and Psychopathology Correlates: An Exploratory Analysis.

Aina M Gassó,Katrin Mueller-Johnson,Esperanza L Gómez-Durán

doi:10.3390/ijerph18126564

Abstract

Sexting is generally known as creating, sending and/or forwarding of sexual content using electronic devices. When such content is non-consensually disseminated, it becomes a criminally relevant behavior. To date, very few empirical studies have examined the prevalence of non-consensual dissemination of sexting, and none of them have analyzed the relationship with psychopathology and further victimization outcomes. Therefore, the aims of this study were (1) to examine the prevalence of non-consensual dissemination of sexual content, (2) to analyze the prevalence of further victimization as a result of non-consensual dissemination of sexting and (3) to investigate the association between secondary victimization as a result of non-consensual dissemination of sexting and psychopathology. The sample comprised 1370 Spanish college students (73.6% female; mean age = 21.4 years; SD = 4.85) who answered an online survey about their engagement in sexting behaviors, online sexual victimization and psychopathology, measured by a sexting scale and the Listado de Síntomas Breve (LSB-50), respectively. Overall, 43 participants (3.14) were victims of non-consensual dissemination of sexting, and results showed those participants who had suffered further victimization reported higher psychopathology scores than those who were not victimized and that being victimized by an ex-partner was associated with poorer mental health outcomes in the victim. Further implications are discussed.

Highlights

Sexting can be defined as the act of creating, sending and/or forwarding nude or sexually explicit images or videos through electronic devices [1,2,3]
Regarding psychopathology scores and perpetrator figures, our results showed that psychopathology scores were higher for participants who had been secondarily victimized by ex-partners, than for any of the secondary victimization forms perpetrated by other people
Our results show that experiencing secondary victimization as a result of the non-consensual dissemination of sexting is associated with higher psychopathology scores, highlighting the need to protect those who suffer non-consensual dissemination of sexting even after the initial victimization has occurred

Summary

Introduction

Sexting can be defined as the act of creating, sending and/or forwarding nude or sexually explicit images or videos through electronic devices [1,2,3]. This social phenomenon has been getting increased media and scientific attention in the past few years, as it has been linked to risky sexual behaviors, negative consequences, poorer mental health and other forms of cybervictimization for those who engage in the behavior [4,5,6,7,8]. Regardless of the self-generated sexual content’s origin (voluntary—experimental sexting, or coerced—aggravated sexting), sending self-generated

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