Summary
This systematic review synthesises findings from 54 peer-reviewed studies examining the outcomes of sexting involvement for children and adolescents. The review identifies a wide-ranging spectrum of outcomes spanning from positive benefits for well-being and relationships through to stigma, difficulties, and serious harm or trauma. The authors organise findings into four distinct outcome categories and discuss implications for harm prevention and intervention initiatives.
UK applicability
The findings are relevant to UK child safeguarding policy, education, and clinical practice, though the review does not specify geographic focus and applicability depends on whether included studies reflect UK digital contexts and adolescent populations. UK practitioners in health, education, and social care may use these synthesised outcomes to inform harm prevention strategies.
Key measures
Outcomes categorised into psychological, behavioural, relational, and systems-level impacts; quality appraisal using Dixon-Woods et al. (2006) five question prompts
Outcomes reported
The systematic review identified and synthesised empirical evidence on outcomes of sexting involvement for children and adolescents aged ≤19 years across four outcome categories: psychological (victimisation, sexual abuse, mental health, emotional outcomes), behavioural (sexual activity, risk behaviours, abuse perpetration), relational (personal connections, reputational outcomes), and systems-level (content distribution and public exposure).
Topic tags
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