Risk or fun? Adolescent attitude towards sexting and parental practices

Adolescent sexting is considered a public health and social issue. Parents may play a fundamental role in shaping their children’s attitudes and behaviours toward sexting. Adolescent attitude toward sexting overall may also be relevant for sexting engagement. The present study aimed to test a conceptual model in which sexting behaviours are explained by parental practices, mediated by adolescents’ attitudes toward sexting, controlling for gender and age. We investigated separately the role of two different mediators: adolescents’ perception of sexting as risky and adolescents’ perception of sexting as fun and carefree. The sample consisted of 507 Italian adolescents aged 14–19. Results suggested that rules on content, parental knowledge, parental control and frequency of communication explained adolescent sexting attitudes or behaviours. Also, adolescents who reported a more favourable attitude toward sexting were more likely to engage in sexting. Results highlighted the fundamental role played by parents in shaping adolescents’ sexting attitudes and behaviours and the importance of adolescents’ attitude toward sexting in shaping sexting behaviours. Findings suggest that parents may play a pivotal role by resorting to effective parental practices of media-mediation and monitoring in order to guide and support their adolescent children in dealing with sexting.