Link Between Sexting and Sex in Teens

About 22% of young teens have sexted. And those who sent sexually explicit messages or pictures via their phones were 4 to 7 times more likely to engage in other sexual behaviors. So says a study in the journal Pediatrics. Researchers studied 410 seventh-grade students from 5 public middle schools in Rhode Island. The students, ages 12 to 14, answered survey questions online. Researchers suggest that parents and doctors start talking to kids about sexting, sex and their consequences as early as middle school. The study was published in Pediatrics online. HealthDay News reported on it Jan. 6.