Sexting

Open Access: Yes.

Abstract

Importance: Requests for sexual images are a common but understudied component of adolescent digital interactions. Although image sharing or sexting can be a consensual behavior between peers, when requests for sexual images are coercive it is a form of sexual harassment.

Objective: To examine experiences with coercive requests for sexual images received before the age of 18 years and the incident and respondent characteristics associated with sharing an image in response to coercion.

Design, setting, and participants: This survey study was conducted in the US between June 28, 2023, and April 1, 2024. Survey participants were a sample of 6204 young adults (aged 18-28 years). Screening procedures were designed to oversample individuals with histories of image-based sexual abuse to examine questions related to incident dynamics. Analyses used statistical weighting to improve generalizability to the US population.

Main outcomes and measures: Bivariate and multivariate logistic regression modeling examined whether demographic and incident-level factors were associated with a decision by respondents to share a sexual image in response to coercion, defined as threats or strong pressure, and the impact of sharing on disclosure and mental health outcomes.

Results: A total of 2853 respondents reported 4205 incidents of image-based sexual abuse, including 2003 coercive requests for sexual images that occurred before they were 18 years of age; in 1886 (mean respondent age, 22.8 [95% CI, 22.6-23.1] years; 91.0% female [95% CI, 89.4-92.4]) of these incidents, respondents provided information on whether they did or did not share an image in response, making up the analytic sample for the study. In 1067 coercive request incidents (55.6%; 95% CI, 51.5%-59.6%), adolescents shared an image in response. Sharing was significantly less likely when the perpetrator was someone the adolescent met online vs a dating partner (odds ratio [OR], 0.33; 95% CI, 0.20-0.54; P < .001) and was more likely for incidents lasting longer than month (OR, 3.55; 95% CI, 2.44-5.16; P < .001). Respondents who shared images reported significantly worse mental health outcomes than those who did not (OR, 1.10; 95% CI, 1.04 -1.17; P = .001) and were less likely to disclose the incident (OR, 0.69; 95% CI, 0.48-0.98; P = .04).

Conclusions and relevance: In this survey study of young adults in the US, findings identified significant harms associated with providing sexual images in response to coercive requests during adolescence. Results highlight the importance of providing adolescents with skills to respond to image requests and information about the harmful outcomes of coercive sexual image requests.

Relevance

Almost half of the young adults in the survey reported incidents of image-based sexual abuse – and almost half of the incidents were coercive requests for sexual images from legal minors.

“Survey data from a large sample of young adult respondents found that after receiving a coercive request for a sexual image before the age of 18 years, more than half had complied by sharing an image. Respondents who sent sexual images in response to a coercive request were more likely to do so when the person making the request was a dating partner and when the requests involved threats, lasted 1 month or more, or were repetitive (4 times). Sharing an image was significantly associated with negative outcomes.”

“Demographic differences and adversity histories largely did not distinguish respondents who did and did not share images in response to coercive requests. Respondents reporting their sexual orientation as bisexual were the only subgroup significantly more likely to have shared images in response to coercion.”

“More than half of the coercive requests for images came from strangers or individuals known only online, with the rest coming from dating partners and acquaintances. However, respondents were significantly more likely to share sexual images in response to coercive requests from dating partners compared with strangers or acquaintances.”

“The decision to share sexual photos in response to coercive requests was associated with significantly greater self-reported negative outcomes for respondents, negatively affecting their relationships and school attendance, increased suicidal ideation, and life disruptions.” This finding fits with prior research showing that coercive sexting “negatively affects mental health and is associated with offline sexual coercion” as well as with ongoing feelings of vulnerability, helplessness, powerlessness, fear over the circulation or resurfacing of their images, worry about being recognized in public.”

“Adolescents who received coercive requests for sexual images but did not provide an image were more likely to disclose the experience to someone compared with those who provided an image. It may be that disclosing the coercive requests provided respondents with support and made it easier for them to avoid sharing an image. It also may be that respondents who share sexual images in response to coercion feel shame in ways that inhibit disclosure despite experiencing significant negative emotional outcomes.”

Citation

Jones, L. M., Mitchell, K. J., Colburn, D., & Gewirtz-Meydan, A. (2026). Adolescent Responses to Coercive Requests for Sexual Images. JAMA network open, 9(3), e260739. https://doi.org/10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2026.0739