From Fitness to Cognition: Machine-Learning Prediction of Cognitive Performance Using Physiological Parameters in Healthy Adults.

Sexting, defined as the exchange of erotic, sexually suggestive or explicit content via digital devices, has become increasingly common during adolescence and emerging adulthood, two developmental periods marked by heightened socio-sexual exploration and vulnerability (Klettke et al., ). Factors such as age and gender could also shape these practices. Prevalence increases markedly from early adolescence, where 21.5% report sexting to emerging adulthood, where rates exceed 70% reflecting a developmental progression in these practices (Resett, ). Moreover, girls and women appear to be disproportionately affected by coercive, and by other non-consensual forms of sexting (Gassó et al., ). Despite growing attention, important gaps remain: most research is descriptive, limited to specific populations, and rarely adopts person-centered approaches that capture distinct sexting profiles and their psychosocial impact. In addition, although cultural and gender norms are known to shape sexting practices, particularly the sexual double standards, understood here as the degree to which individuals personally endorse unequal norms that reward or penalize the same sexual behavior depending on gender, their role in amplifying psychological consequences has received little empirical attention. This study identifies sexting profiles, examines their associations with quality of life and mental health, and tests the mediating role of sexual double standards in a nationally representative sample of Spanish adolescents and emerging adults, including gender differences. Over the past two decades, sexting has gained visibility in adolescent and emerging adult health research, becoming a subject of academic and clinical debate (Livingstone & Görzig, ). While initially conceptualized as a risk behavior linked to cyberbullying and online victimization, more recent approaches position sexting along a continuum ranging from consensual sexual exploration to coercive practices with mental health implications (Chatzinikolaou & Lievens, ). Multiple studies indicate that sexting is a multidimensional behavior expressed through various forms of involvement, such as active (sending), passive (receiving), or coerced participation, meaning participation that occurs under pressure or without full voluntary consent (Alonso & Romero, ; Resett, ). These forms are driven by varied motivations that shift across developmental stages, including seduction, affective validation, entertainment, body image expression, peer pressure, and coercion (Alonso Ruido, ; Ayala et al., ). This heterogeneity has led several authors to examine sexting profiles. For example, studies using sending and receiving behaviors among emerging adults have identified four profiles: no sexters (71.5%), word-only sexters (14.5%), frequent sexters (8.5%), and hyper sexters (5.5%) (Galovan et al., ). Other research has also identified and described prevalences in active, passive, and reciprocal sexting among adolescents and university students (Gassó et al., ). Although these studies represent important first steps toward recognizing variability in sexting practices, differences in the behaviors analyzed, measurement, and analytic approaches limit comparability. As a result, key questions remain unresolved, such as how different sexting behaviors co-occur and whether similar profiles emerge across developmental stages.