In their own peer-reviewed study, published in the Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine, more than a quarter (27.6 percent) of the teens said they’d sent a nude picture of themselves. More than half (57 percent) said they’d been asked to send a nude photo of themselves and nearly a third (31 percent) had asked someone else to send them a nude photo. Guys were more likely than girls to have made such a request; girls were more likely than guys to have been asked for a sext.

Among those who’d been asked to send a nude image of themselves, almost all the girls (93 percent) and 54 percent of boys reported they felt bothered by the request; 27 percent of girls said they were bothered “a great deal,” while just 3 percent of boys said they were bothered to that degree. The authors note that the term “bothered” needs further exploration, as it’s not clear whether respondents meant they felt embarrassed, annoyed or some other form of being bothered. Among boys and girls alike, those who had taken part in sexting were more likely than non-sexters to have begun dating and to have had sexual intercourse. Girls who’d sexted were also more likely than girls who hadn’t to have had more than one sexual partner and to have used drugs or alcohol before engaging in sex.