Substance Use While Sexting Moderates the Effect of Sexual Identity Development on Offline and Online Sexting...

Research suggests that for adolescent sexual minority males (ASMM), sexting may be a way of exploring one's sexuality and a safer way to develop romantic and sexual relationships than doing so offline. However, there is a paucity of research on the positive and negative consequences of sexting in this population. Although sexual identity development processes have been linked to positive and negative outcomes of in-person sexual experiences, they have not been examined in relation to sexting. Substance use while sexting may increase the risk of offline and online negative sexting consequences, and ASMM use alcohol and drugs at higher rates than the general population of adolescents. In this national US online survey, we sampled 332 ASMM ages 16-18 who had sexting experience with male partners. We found the sample sexted frequently at 4-5 times a week over the last 2 months, had high rates of alcohol use while sexting (70%), but reported less frequent cannabis use (43%) and non-cannabis drugs (38%). Sexual identity commitment and exploration were associated with more positive sexting consequences and identity commitment with fewer negative sexting consequences. Sexual identity uncertainty was associated with more negative sexting consequences. Substance use exerted a moderating effect on some of these associations. For example, non-cannabis drug use mitigated the protective effect of identity commitment and exacerbated the adverse effects of identity uncertainty. Researchers and providers working with ASMM need to attend to sexting consequences within the context of sexual identity development and substance use while sexting.