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Background: Sexting is common among adolescents and is associated with numerous health risk behaviors and negative psychosocial constructs. This study examined the relationships between high school students' experiences with sexual violence victimization, dating violence victimization, and engagement in risky sexual behaviors with experiences of receiving sexts. Methods: Cross-sectional data from the 2014 to 2016 data from Pennsylvania Youth Risk Behavior. Participants were selected using an independent 2-stage cluster sample design to produce a statewide population-based sample. The pencil and paper surveys were conducted in school. Participants included 6734 Pennsylvania high school students in grades 9-12. Results: Overall, 29.0% of Pennsylvania high school students had received a sext, which varied by sex, race/ethnicity, school grade, and sexual identity. Students who engaged in sexual risk behaviors, experienced dating violence, or experienced lifetime sexual violence outside of the dating context had a significantly higher prevalence of receiving a sext than students who did not engage in those behaviors or have those experiences. Conclusions: Early screening and prevention efforts that include discussions about sexting behaviors may help prevent other negative outcomes, such as risky sexual behaviors and interpersonal violence. Addressing sexting in the education and health sectors may help to prevent other related harmful health and violence experiences during adolescence.

BACKGROUND: Sexting is common among adolescents and is associated with numerous health risk behaviors and negative psychosocial constructs. This study examined the relationships between high school students' experiences with sexual violence victimization, dating violence victimization, and engagement in risky sexual behaviors with experiences of receiving sexts. METHODS: Cross‐sectional data from the 2014 to 2016 data from Pennsylvania Youth Risk Behavior. Participants were selected using an independent 2‐stage cluster sample design to produce a statewide population‐based sample. The pencil and paper surveys were conducted in school. Participants included 6734 Pennsylvania high school students in grades 9‐12. RESULTS: Overall, 29.0% of Pennsylvania high school students had received a sext, which varied by sex, race/ethnicity, school grade, and sexual identity. Students who engaged in sexual risk behaviors, experienced dating violence, or experienced lifetime sexual violence outside of the dating context had a significantly higher prevalence of receiving a sext than students who did not engage in those behaviors or have those experiences. CONCLUSIONS: Early screening and prevention efforts that include discussions about sexting behaviors may help prevent other negative outcomes, such as risky sexual behaviors and interpersonal violence. Addressing sexting in the education and health sectors may help to prevent other related harmful health and violence experiences during adolescence. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Using family systems theory, this longitudinal study of middle school youth examined the effects of abuse, family conflict, and sibling aggression on sexual harassment perpetration (N = 1563; Mage 11.2, 51% boys; 39% Hispanic, 29% Black, and 19% White). Boys reported more sexual harassment than girls; perpetration increased for both. The association between a hostile home environment and sexual harassment perpetration was moderated by school experiences. School belonging buffered effects of hostile home environment on baseline sexual harassment perpetration for boys who experienced abuse and White adolescents with high sibling aggression. Academic grades moderated change in perpetration over time, but effects differed by sex and race. It is important to understand how early violence exposures relate to sexual violence perpetration during early adolescence. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Adolescent sexual violence (SV), which includes non-contact verbal sexual harassment (SH) and forced sexual contact (FSC), is a significant public health problem with long-term impacts on health and well-being. Understanding how sports participation is linked to SV can inform prevention efforts; however, the current literature is unclear about the nature of this association. Using data from 20 high schools, we investigate whether athletes in certain sports are at higher risk of SH and FSC perpetration than either other athletes or sports non-participants, and whether the risk is moderated by gender, dismissiveness of SV, or substance use intentions. We also utilize social network data to explore the role of relationships with peers and trusted adults to attenuate SH and FSC perpetration. Second, we incorporate characteristics of friends to further examine the role and composition of peer groups in the association between sports participation and perpetration of SH and FSC. Findings revealed a bivariate association between sport contact level and SH perpetration, but not FSC, and the association disappeared after adjusting for other covariates. Most prominently, dismissiveness of SV, intentions to use substances, and prior perpetration had the strongest association with perpetration regardless of sport contact level. Results also provided some support for the influence of peers and trusted adults in the sports context. Notably, the percentage of friends who perpetrated FSC and the percentage of friends who play a low-contact sport were positively associated with FSC perpetration, and the percentage of friends who play a high-contact sport was positively associated with SH perpetration. The paper concludes with a discussion of the sports context as an important venue for comprehensive prevention efforts, including a focus on changing norms around adolescent SV and substance use. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Protecting adolescents from the risk of teen dating violence (TDV) perpetration is critical to enhancing prevention efforts. This study examined longitudinal trajectories of four protective factors (i.e., empathy, social support, parental monitoring, and school belonging) across adolescence in relation to four TDV types (i.e., verbal, relational, physical, and sexual). Adolescents (n = 1,668) who reported being in a relationship or dating during high school completed self‐report measures from middle through high school. Results indicated that all protective factors differentiated between TDV perpetrators and nonperpetrators, although these trajectories varied for boys and for girls and across the different types of TDV. Overall, youth who did not perpetrate TDV in high school generally displayed higher protective factors across the TDV perpetration types. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Adolescents engage in bullying and sexual harassment perpetration both in-person and online. Yet, little is known about the overlap of traditional (in-person) and cyber bullying and sexual harassment perpetration. The present study assessed the co-occurrence of these forms of aggression in high school and identified middle school predictors based on participants' perceptions of factors across the social ecology. Racially diverse middle and high school students (n = 3549) were surveyed over four time points from Spring 2008 to Spring 2013. A latent class analysis was used to identify classes of individuals according to endorsement of traditional and cyber bullying and sexual harassment items in high school. Four classes were identified: (1) high all, consisting of traditional and cyber bullying and sexual harassment perpetration (n = 227); (2) traditional bullying perpetration (n = 604); (3) traditional and cyber bullying perpetration (n = 450); and (4) low all (n = 1,261). Students who reported high levels of anger, self-esteem, empathy, pornographic exposure, and traditional masculinity (individual level), lower levels of social support and parental monitoring (relational level), and higher levels of school belonging (community level) had increased odds of being in the high all class when compared to the other classes. Given the co-occurrence of traditional and cyber bullying and sexual harassment, prevention programming that addresses both forms of aggression across traditional and online contexts may be beneficial. This study also suggests the importance of comprehensive prevention efforts that incorporate approaches at the different ecological levels, such as teaching adolescents healthy emotional and interpersonal skills, and engaging parents in prevention. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Using family systems theory, this longitudinal study of middle school youth examined the effects of abuse, family conflict, and sibling aggression on sexual harassment perpetration (N = 1563; M age 11.2, 51% boys; 39% Hispanic, 29% Black, and 19% White). Boys reported more sexual harassment than girls; perpetration increased for both. The association between a hostile home environment and sexual harassment perpetration was moderated by school experiences. School belonging buffered effects of hostile home environment on baseline sexual harassment perpetration for boys who experienced abuse and White adolescents with high sibling aggression. Academic grades moderated change in perpetration over time, but effects differed by sex and race. It is important to understand how early violence exposures relate to sexual violence perpetration during early adolescence., (© 2022 Society for Research on Adolescence.)

Background: Non-fatal self-inflicted (SI) injuries may be underidentified in administrative medical data sources., Objective: Compare patients with SI versus undetermined intent (UI) injuries according to patient characteristics, incidence of subsequent SI injury and risk factors for subsequent SI injury., Methods: Truven Health MarketScan was used to identify patients' (aged 10-64) first SI or UI injury in 2015 (index injury). Patient characteristics and subsequent SI within 1 year were assessed. A logistic regression model examined factors associated with subsequent SI., Results: Among analysed patients (n=44 806; 36% SI, 64% UI), a higher proportion of patients with SI index injury were female, had preceding comorbidities (eg, depression), Medicaid (vs commercial insurance), treatment in an ambulance or hospital and cut/pierce or poisoning injuries compared with patients with UI index injury. Just 1% of patients with UI had subsequent SI≤1 year vs 16% of patients with SI. Among patients with UI index injury, incidence of and risk factors for subsequent SI injury were similar across assessed age groups (10-24 years, 25-44 years, 45-64 years). Severe injuries (eg, treated in emergency department), cut/pierce or poisoning injuries, mental health and substance use disorder comorbidities and Medicaid (among adult patients) were risk factors for subsequent SI among patients with UI index injuries., Conclusions: Regardless of circumstances that influence clinicians' SI vs UI coding decisions, information on incidence of and risk factors for subsequent SI can help to inform clinical treatment decisions when SI injury is suspected as well as provide evidence to support the development and implementation of self-harm prevention activities., Competing Interests: Competing interests: None declared., (© Author(s) (or their employer(s)) 2019. No commercial re-use. See rights and permissions. Published by BMJ.)