. Author manuscript; available in PMC: 2019 Nov 6.

Published in final edited form as: Arch Sex Behav. 2014 Oct 31;44(6):1675–1684. doi: 10.1007/s10508-014-0370-7

Table 4.

Reported perceived risks of sexting

Negative consequence	Personal experience^a,c N (%)	Sexting risks (beliefs)
Negative consequence	Personal experience^a,c N (%)	Males N (%)	Females N (%)
Sexts get around to other people	21 (12)	70 (93.3)^a	173 (96.1)^a
Sexts get around to other people	21 (12)	118 (90.8)^b	424 (89.8)^b
Damages relationships	3 (1.7)	58 (77.3)^a	155 (86.1)^a
Damages relationships	3 (1.7)	94 (72.3)^b	320 (67.8)^b
Conflicts at work		61 (81.3)^a	142 (78.9)^a
Conflicts at work		98 (75.4)^b	310 (65.7)^b
Legal trouble/trouble with police		56 (74.7)^a	141 (78.3)^a
Legal trouble/trouble with police		95 (73.1)^b	336 (71.2)^b
Sexting causes ridicule from others		63 (84.0)^a	161 (89.4)^a
Sexting causes ridicule from others		98 (75.4)^b	360 (76.3)^b
Unwanted attention		55 (73.3)^a	148 (82.2)^a
Unwanted attention		94 (72.3)^b	364 (77.1)^b
Unwanted sexual contact		42 (56.0)^a	134 (74.4)^a
Unwanted sexual contact		77 (59.2)^b	324 (68.6)^b
Sexts used as blackmail	3 (1.7)	4 (94.7)^a	173 (96.1)^a
Sexts used as blackmail	3 (1.7)	113 (86.9)^b	400 (84.7)^b
Bullying or harassment from others	2(1.1)	61 (81.3)^a	161 (89.4)^a
Bullying or harassment from others	2(1.1)	97 (74.6)^b	356 (75.4)^b
Regret	9(5.1)	71 (94.7)^a	176 (97.8)^a
Regret	9(5.1)	117 (90)^b	428 (90.7)^b
Sexting makes people feel “led on”, “used”, or “misunderstood.”	7 (4.0)

Study 1 N = 255

Study 2 N = 611

Number of participants who gave a qualitative response of personal negative sexting experience consistent with scale item