Keywords
Quantitative Analysis; Digital Media; Media Literacy; Digital Skills; Sexting; Adolescents
Abstract
Adolescents need to be equipped with skills to foster healthy sexual development. We argue that this idea must be extended to digital skills, nowadays needed to engage in digitally intimate behaviors, such as sexting, where the role of digital skills remains scientifically underexplored. Building on the integrative digital skills framework and advancing on existing research, we explore the relationship of technical (i.e., privacy protection), communication (i.e., safe online interaction), and content production (i.e., ability to edit images) skills with the expected and unexpected receiving and sending of sexual messages. Data were collected using a survey with a sample of 2,953 adolescents (12–17 years old, 48.1% girls) from Estonia, Italy, and Finland collected in 2021; we analyze these relationships using multinomial logistic regression. The results show that communication skills are not related to sexting, technical skills do not decrease the likelihood of receiving unexpected sexual messages, and content creation skills increase the likelihood of all sexting types. While digital skills are crucial, they do not automatically translate into safer sexting behaviors. Instead, a more nuanced approach is needed in education and policy, ensuring that adolescents learn not only how to use digital tools but also how to apply them in ways that promote healthy sexual development and minimize risks. Our study challenges traditional risk-based perspectives on sexting and underscores the need for comprehensive digital literacy frameworks that integrate both protective and expressive aspects of adolescent online sexuality.
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Fundref
Writing of this study was supported by the project “Research of Excellence on Digital Technologies and Wellbeing CZ.02.01.01/00/ 22_008/0004583”, which is co-financed by the European Union. The data collection was supported by the ySKILLS project, which received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 Research & Innovation programme under Grant Agreement no. 870612. This study reflects only the author’s view and the Research Executive Agency is not responsible for any use that may be made of the information it contains.
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Received: 2025-03-25 | Reviewed: 2025-04-10 | Accepted: 2025-04-12 | Online First: 2025-05-18 | Published: 2025-05-20
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Dr. Michaela Šaradín Lebedíková., Prof. David Smahel., Dr. Hana Machackova. (2025). The Role of Digital Skills in Adolescent Sexting: An Exploratory Study . Comunicar, 33(81). 10.5281/zenodo.15571073
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