Article révisé par les pairs
Résumé : Over the past 20 years, adolescent sexting has attracted popular media and scientific interest, with research showing the growing participation of adolescents in this sexual practice. While most studies on youth sexting have focused on adolescents’ perspectives, the few that include parents have primarily examined parenting practices quantitatively as predictors of adolescent sexting behaviors. However, little is known about parents’ own representations of youth sexting, particularly in terms of their perspectives and responses. To fill this gap, this qualitative study draws on semi-structured interviews with 13 Belgian parents (10 mothers and 3 fathers, 44–60 years) of adolescents (16–18 years). Interviews with participants were analyzed using reflexive thematic analysis. We identified three central themes: (1) Sexting as surrogate love illustrates how parents see sexting as an act that does not fully reflect “genuine” intimacy and incompatible with “real-life” affection; (2) The role of an adolescent’s parent highlights parents’ efforts to navigate youth sexting by balancing trust, equipping their teens with tools for navigating digital life, and guiding them on matters of online intimacy; and (3) Gender and sexting: an ambivalence explores parents’ ambivalent views on the gendered dynamics of sexting, emphasizing the gendered consequences of the practice while striving for a more gender-neutral approach when addressing the issue with their teens. Based on our results, parent programs could educate parents in more nuanced ways, emphasizing potential benefits adolescents find in this practice, while avoiding conflation with non-consensual acts such as aggravated sexting.

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