Background: Sexting is sending, receiving, or forwarding sexually explicit messages, images, or videos through electronic means. Research has examined sexting in high school and college students. This study seeks to add to the existing literature by exploring the nature of pressured or problematic sexting in middle school-aged subjects. Methods:…

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…

Background: Young people may experience school-based violence and bullying victimization related to their gender expression, independent of sexual orientation identity. However, the associations between gender expression and bullying and violence have not been examined in racially and ethnically diverse population-based samples of high school…

Background: Sexting, the sharing of sexually suggestive photos, may be a gateway behavior to early sexual activity and increase the likelihood of social ostracism. Methods: Youth Risk Behavior Survey (N = 6021) data from 2015 among Pennsylvania 9th-12th grade students were used to examine associations between consensual and nonconsensual sexting…

Background: This study fills a gap in the literature by examining how school staff members view bullying and sexual harassment and their role in preventing both. Given recent legislation, increasingly more attention is paid to bully prevention; however, student-on-student sexual harassment is less addressed. Methods: Four focus groups were…

Background: The purpose of this study was to investigate whether US female adolescents who self-reported having a physical disability or long-term health problem were more likely to report having been physically forced to have sexual intercourse than US female adolescents without a physical disability or long-term health problem. Methods: Using…

Background: Peer sexual harassment is a significant social problem with consequences for both students and schools. Four out of 5 students report experiencing sexual harassment. These experiences have been linked to poor psychological health and academic withdrawal. Recognizing the seriousness of sexual harassment in schools, Supreme Court rulings…

A number of school-based programs address sexual violence by focusing on adolescents' attitudes about rape or acceptance of rape myths. However, really problems exist in the literature regarding measurement of rape myth acceptance, including issues of reliability and validity. This paper addresses measurement reliability issues and reviews…

Examined adolescent sexuality-education curricula for information on coercion (date rape, stranger rape, pressure, incest, sexual harassment, unwanted/inappropriate touch, and exploitation/victimization). Exploitation/victimization and pressure received the greatest attention. Sexual harassment was not covered in any of the curricula. Results…

Investigated the extent to which Florida's school districts complied with the Florida Department of Education's (FDOE) recommendations for addressing sexual harassment in schools. Surveys of district equity coordinators and analysis of policies indicated that most districts approved sexual harassment policies incorporating many FDOE…

Secondary students were surveyed to determine the nature and extent of sexual harassment in schools. Results indicated that 81% of students had been sexually harassed, with both boys and girls being targeted by peers and adults. Substantial numbers of minority youth reported experiencing sexual harassment. (SM)

Assessed junior high students' perceptions regarding nonconsensual sexual activity. Surveys indicated 35% had had sexual intercourse; 19% reported feeling pressure from their friends to have sex; 17% had been sexually coerced by an adolescent, 7% by an adult; 6% reported having sexually coerced someone else. Students demonstrated low knowledge…