WVU develops prevention and response program for rural youth at risk of sexting, bullying and self-harm

A researcher at West Virginia University is working to prevent risky behaviors like sexting and self-harm in rural youth.

With $343,719 in U.S. Department of Agriculture funding, assistant professor Kristine Ramsay-Seaner, a counseling expert at the WVU College of Applied Human Sciences, will oversee the development of trainings and other resources to support professionals who work with youth in rural communities across the United States, in collaboration with the University of Georgia, South Dakota State University and North Dakota State University.

“Poverty, social isolation, lack of access to mental health treatment — those factors and others contribute to rural youths’ heightened risk for behaviors like sexting, self-harm, substance use, bullying and disordered eating,” Ramsay-Seaner said.

“The average age of exposure to pornography is now 12 years of age, with some studies suggesting as early as 11. One 2021 analysis found 19.3% of youth had sent a sext, 34.8% had received one and 14.5% had forwarded one without consent.”

In West Virginia, for example, schools have provided educators and students with trainings related to violence prevention, but Ramsay-Seaner said gaps remain on topics such as sexting, digital scams and even self-harm. Kids’ digital risk will only grow as society’s reliance on technology increases, she emphasized.

She said the problem is exacerbated because parents and frontline youth service professionals in rural areas receive limited training on how to recognize and address problematic behaviors. That’s why she’s developing virtual trainings and a podcast series teaching professionals and parents about risks to middle- and high-school-aged youth and how to react.

Working closely with WVU Extension and other state Extension offices, Ramsay-Seaner will provide rural caregivers with evidence- and research-based tools which expand the Youth Mental Health First Aid program that is already the primary risk prevention program for rural communities. 

They’ll offer the intensive trainings virtually to avoid the time constraints and financial barriers posed by long, onsite sessions.

The virtual trainings will comprise eight modules that educate youth development professionals and parents about trends in risky youth behaviors, and how to address those.

“Utilizing skills such as active listening and non-judgmental communication, we want to prepare youth service professionals to respond to the complex needs of today’s youth,” Ramsay-Seaner said. 

Each module will be offered multiple times to afford participants maximum flexibility, and each will highlight topics relevant to the session’s particular audience. Attendees — including parents, school staff, 4-H professionals and volunteers, and workers in the foster care system — will commit to at least four hours of training. Pre- and post-training assessments will allow Ramsay-Seaner and her colleagues to test whether the sessions are effective.

The team will also produce a 24-episode “how to talk to your teen” podcast series featuring half-hour interviews with national experts who offer practical guides to discussing risk behaviors in a way that’s comfortable for both youth and adults.

Ramsay-Seaner added the risks to youth in rural areas are very real, pointing out the number of emergency room visits for self-harm and self-inflicted firearm injuries is much higher among rural youth than those from metropolitan areas. In 2023, about 16% of all U.S. emergency room visits for self-harm were made by youth in rural areas, she said.

“We also see e-cigarette use increasing more among rural youth than among youth in small and large cities. We see that almost 8% of rural U.S. youth have substance use disorders, including 3.5% with alcohol use disorders — again, higher than in urban areas. Kids from rural places use methamphetamines more than kids from cities. They sniff inhalants like glue or aerosols more. In one survey conducted among rural high schoolers in a southern state, 30% of the kids reported sending nude photos of themselves to another person.”

She continued, “All these behaviors come with serious risks, and they deserve serious, well-informed conversations. It’s our goal to help adults have those conversations and make them count.”