Researchers, including one of an Indian origin, analyzed the prevalence rates for sexting among the youth.

Sexting is sending, receiving or forwarding sexually explicit messages, images, videos primarily between mobile phones, of oneself to others.

"Findings from our study provide a very important message for youth who may believe media headlines that suggest sexting is more widespread than it actually is," said Sameer Hinduja, Professor at the Florida Atlantic University.

The study, published in the Journal Archives of Sexual Behavior, surveyed a nationally representative sample of 5,593 American middle and high school students (aged 12 to 17).

Results showed that across all socio-demographic variables explored, the vast majority of students were not participating in sexting.

About 14 percent of middle and high school students have received a sexually explicit image from a boyfriend or girlfriend, while 13.6 percent said they received such an image from someone who was not a current romantic partner.

About 11 percent of students reported sending a sext to their boyfriend or girlfriend.

Interestingly, 63.9 percent of students were asked by a current boyfriend or girlfriend to send a sext.

The students who were asked to send a sext by someone who was not a current romantic partner, only 43 percent complied.

Males were significantly more likely to have sent and received a sext from a current romantic partner. However, males and females were equally liable to receive them from a person who was not a current girlfriend or boyfriend.

About 14.3 percent of female students were more likely to have been asked to send a sext by someone who was not a current romantic partner, but only 34.1 percent complied.

Overall, about four percent of students said they shared an explicit image sent to them with another person without their permission, and about the same number believed an image of them was shared with others in the absence of their permission.

"Showing adolescents clear evidence that a relatively small proportion of teens engage in sexting could actually result in decreased overall participation since it underscores that it is not as normal, commonplace, or widespread as they might believe," said Justin Patchin, Professor at the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire.

By Sowmya Sangam