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. 2021 Jul;2021(178):133-155.
doi: 10.1002/cad.20427. Epub 2021 Jun 9.

Patterns of love and sexting in teen dating relationships: The moderating role of conflicts

Dora Bianchi  1 , Mara Morelli  2 , Roberto Baiocco  1 , Elena Cattelino  3 , Antonio Chirumbolo  4
Affiliations

Patterns of love and sexting in teen dating relationships: The moderating role of conflicts

Dora Bianchi et al. New Dir Child Adolesc Dev. 2021 Jul.

Abstract

According to the triangular love theory, this study investigated the roles of three components of love (i.e., passion, intimacy, commitment) and the moderating role of conflicts in predicting different forms of sexting (i.e., experimental, nonconsensual, under pressure) in teen dating relationships. Participants were 409 adolescents (Mage = 17.20, SDage = 1.61; 62.6% girls) who completed an online questionnaire. Three moderated regressions were performed. Conflicts positively predicted all forms of sexting. Passion positively predicted experimental sexting. Intimacy negatively predicted experimental and nonconsensual sexting, and positively predicted sexting under pressure. Three interaction effects emerged, pointing out the moderating role of conflicts. Passion positively predicted nonconsensual sexting in the presence of high conflicts, while this relationship became negative when conflicts were low. Commitment negatively predicted nonconsensual sexting and sexting under pressure in the presence of high conflicts, but these relationships were not significant when conflicts were low. Research and applicative implications are discussed.

Keywords: adolescents; commitment; conflicts; dating relationships; intimacy; passion; sexting.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

Figures

FIGURE 1
FIGURE 1
(a) Moderation effect of conflict in the relationship between passion and nonconsensual sexting. (b) Plot of confidence interval bands for conditional effect of passion on nonconsensual sexting at different levels of the moderator (conflict)
FIGURE 2
FIGURE 2
(a) Moderation effect of conflict in the relationship between commitment and nonconsensual sexting. (b) Plot of confidence interval bands for conditional effect of commitment on nonconsensual sexting at different levels of the moderator (conflict). Note: Dashed line represents non‐significant relationship
FIGURE 3
FIGURE 3
(a) Moderation effect of conflict in the relationship between commitment and sexting under pressure. (b) Plot of confidence interval bands for conditional effect of commitment on sexting under pressure at different levels of the moderator (conflict). Note: Dashed line represents non‐significant relationship
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