Table 1.

Sexting gratifications sought subscales and corresponding items.

Subscale	Items	Mean	SD
Arousal	1.Because I was aroused 2.To gratify myself sexually	3.80 2.87	2.12 2.01
Intimacy needs	1.To feel more connected to that person (for adolescents in a relationship: person was adapted to boyfriend/girlfriend) 2.To improve the relationship with that person (for adolescents in a relationship: to express my love for my boyfriend/girlfriend)	3.30 3.29	2.09 2.16
Relational affirmation	1.Because I think that I will be in a relationship with this person if I do this (for adolescents in a relationship: to get a feeling of confirmation that I have a boyfriend/girlfriend) 2.To confirm that this person wants to be in a relationship with me (for adolescents in a relationship: to feel certain about the relationship with my boyfriend/girlfriend)	2.71 2.79	1.91 1.91
Partner pressure	1.Because the other person was pressuring me (for adolescents in a relationship: person was adapted to boyfriend/girlfriend) 2.I first did not want to, but the other person did so I went along (for adolescents in a relationship: person was adapted to boyfriend/girlfriend)	1.72 1.68	1.33 1.35
Peer approval	1.Because all my friends are doing it 2.Because my friends would think I'm cool if I did it	1.63 1.54	1.21 1.31
Body acceptance	1.To accept my body 2.To love my body	2.89 2.94	1.84 1.88
Boredom regulation	1.To pass the time when I'm bored 2.To fill the time	3.02 2.92	1.91 1.89
Stress regulation	1.To relax 2.To unwind	3.27 2.87	1.92 1.79
Loneliness regulation	1.To feel less alone 2.To have the feeling that I'm not on my own	2.66 2.72	1.85 1.85

Note. Gratifications sought for sexting during COVID-19 were only asked to adolescents who indicated that they engaged at least once in one of the four sexting types (N = 222). As such, this subsample was used.