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Examining the influence of media depictions of adolescent sexting on parental practices: an experimental study

par Kasmi, Inès;Lamprianidou, Elli-Anastasia ;Van Petegem, Stijn Julien
Référence Belgian Association of Psychological Sciences Annual Meeting (Brussels, Belgium)
Publication Publié, 2024-05-30

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Résumé :

In the current highly technological era, the phenomenon of sexting, that is the electronic sending of self-made explicit sexual or intimate content, has evolved into a new way of expressing intimacy among the youth. Research shows that the prevalence of sexting has increased importantly these last years among adolescents (Corcoran et al., 2022). As adolescent sexting has received important media coverage, often framed as a new type of risk for adolescents, their parents may be interested, concerned or worried about this new phenomenon. In this experimental study, we examine how media depictions of sexting can influence parents’ perceptions of this practice, and whether different types of media discourse can elicit different parental practices. Specifically, we focus on both positive (autonomy support, active mediation) and negative parenting practices (overprotection, control). To do so, we use vignettes inspired by newspaper articles, presenting the phenomenon of sexting as either normative or deviant. We expect to observe an increase in parental overprotection and controlling parenting, with a decrease in autonomy support and active mediation in response to the deviant vignette. In addition, we explore the potentially moderating role of parents' conservatism (sexual, political), as well as parents' religiosity in this link, expecting that the deviant condition will elicit higher overprotection and control, especially when the parent is more conservative or religious. Finally, we also explore the potential moderating role of the adolescent’s gender, parents’ gender beliefs and parents' adherence to gender essentialism. This is particularly relevant as discussions surrounding sexting often include more negative attitudes towards girls. We expect that the deviant condition will elicit higher levels of overprotection and control, especially for parents of girls, or parents with more traditional gender beliefs/higher gender essentialism.