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AD ALTA

JOURNAL OF INTERDISCIPLINARY RESEARCH

Table 2. Impact of different family structures on self-sexting
no.2

Variable

Group

SEM

sending

nude photo

of a

classmate

two-parent

family

510

1.23

0.737

0.033

3.776

0.005

multi-generation

family

1.16

0.492

0.055

single-parent

family

126

1.26

0.718

0.064

joint custody

1.79

1.397

0.264

reconstructed

family

1.28

1.036

0.151

sending

nude photo

of another

person

two-parent

family

510

1.33

0.870

0.039

3.240

0.012

multi-generation

family

1.10

0.469

0.053

single-parent

family

126

1.43

0.916

0.082

joint custody

1.71

1.329

0.251

reconstructed

family

1.30

0.689

0.100

requesting

someone to

send their

photo

two-parent

family

510

1.23

0.685

0.030

3.831

0.004

multi-generation

family

1.23

0.639

0.072

single-parent

family

126

1.40

0.939

0.084

joint custody

1.71

1.329

0.251

reconstructed

family

1.19

0.647

0.094

forwarding
nude photo

of familiar

person

two-parent

family

510

1.15

0.591

0.026

5.745

0.000

multi-generation

family

1.13

0.435

0.049

single-parent

family

126

1.44

0.984

0.088

joint custody

1.39

0.956

0.181

reconstructed

family

1.23

0.633

0.092

Explanatory notes: N – number; AM – arithmetic mean; SD –
standard deviation; SEM – standard error of mean, F – test
criterion; df – degrees of freedom; p – statistical significance
level

Following section contains self- and peer-sexting results based
on the quality of relationships with parents. As shown in Table 3
and 4, self- and peer-sexting tend to occur if the respondents’
relationships with parents are rather complicated and poor. The
achieved statistical significance of p=0.000 and p=0.025 for
self-sexting (Table 3) suggests the frequency of forwarding
one’s own intimate photo at least once a month is higher for the
adolescents who have poor or complicated relationships with
their parents, i.e. the quality of mutual family relationships is
lower. The adolescent respondents with such poor or
complicated relationships (AM=1.84) also requested the nude
photos more often that those who specified a better quality of
family relationships.

The achieved statistical significance of p=0.000 to p=0.013 for
peer-sexting (Table 4) indicates that respondents who have poor
or complicated relationships with parents sent and forwarded
their classmates’ or friends’ intimate photos at least once a
month.

Table 3. Impact of family relationships on self-sexting no.1

Sending

sexts

Family

relationships

SEM

sending

one’s own

nude photo

very good

456

1.34

0.844

0.040

3.706

0.025

average

281

1.33

0.894

0.053

complicated

1.70

1.112

0.168

requesting

someone to

send their

photo

very good

456

1.25

0.714

0.033

13.626

0.000

average

281

1.21

0.715

0.043

complicated

1.84

1.219

0.184

publishing
one’s own

photo online

very good

456

1.06

0.349

0.016

1.244

0.289

average

281

1.11

0.530

0.032

complicated

1.05

0.211

0.032

Table 4. Impact of family relationships on self-sexting no.2

Sending

sexts

Family

relationships

SEM

sending nude

photo of a

classmate

very good

456

1.21

0.727

0.034

10.001

0.000

average

281

1.20

0.685

0.041

complicated

1.73

1.208

0.182

sending nude

photo of

another

person

very good

456

1.31

0.816

0.038

4.621

0.010

average

281

1.30

0.827

0.049

complicated

1.70

1.212

0.183

forwarding
nude photo

of familiar

person

very good

456

1.19

0.670

0.031

4.391

0.013

average

281

1.18

0.626

0.037

complicated

1.50

1.045

0.158

Discussion

Sending one’s own intimate photo or sexual/sexually explicit
photos of classmates, friends and peers has become a certain
behavioral standard, common for the current generation of
pubescent and adolescent children. This generation does not see
sexting as the at-risk phenomenon that could be possibly
dangerous. The adolescents rather think it is an opportunity to
express their sexual interests and show their intimacy and
self-presentation. Their decision to pursue the online sexual
behavior, such as taking photos, recording videos or texting, is
an outcome of the short-term thinking. Our research goal was to
inspect the adolescents’ family environment, observe the quality
of their relationships with parents and detect the subsequent
differences in self- and peer-sexting behavior. The quality of
respondents’ relationships with parents made significant changes
to several areas – sending nude photos of themselves, classmates
or another person, as well as requesting such materials and
forwarding nude photos of familiar person.

We found out that children raised in joint custody had been more
active in sending their own intimate photos than children
growing up in two-parent and multi

‑generation families. They

also sent their classmates' or friends' nude photos more often. It
further turned out that, besides joint custody, the pubescent and
adolescent children raised in single-parent and reconstructed
families had been more engaged in the individual forms of self-
and peer-sexting.

The cause supposedly lies in the lower parental control of
single-parent and reconstructed families or joint custody.
Another reason might be that pubescent and adolescent children
from single-parent families who have poor or complicated
relationships with parents desire to draw the online attention. In
the world of online progress, self- and peer-sexting can be also
treated as a part of natural maturation process. Nevertheless, the
family situation seems to be more difficult for young people
raised in joint custody when compared to two-parent families.
We realize the need to compare the family typology and quality
of relationships with parents on one hand, and examine the
correlations between the individual variables which will be
tackled in the next study.

The achieved research results indicate that two-parent families
where the stable environment and good mutual relationships
prevail can protect the adolescents and decrease the frequency of
self- and peer-sexting. Statistically speaking, the adolescents
from the incomplete families are more inclined to succumb the
online sexual behavior than respondents from the other family
types. These findings are also supported by S. E. Baumgartner et
al. (2014) who found out that the incidence of online sexual
behavior was higher for young people living in less cohesive
families as opposed to those who came from complete ones.
Based on the quality of relationships with parents, the
respondents’ answers differed considerably in several observed
areas. Lower quality of mutual family relationships (especially
poor or complicated relationships) statistically enhanced the
occurrence of adolescent self- and peer-sexting.

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