Today, reports say that about 50 percent of individuals who receive professional treatment for sex addiction say they began experiencing problems before the age of 16.  Experts say round-the-clock ability to view sexual material online, and a general decrease in knowledge and parental discussions about sex, may be contributing factors.

According to the survey results, as many as 40 percent of teens had viewed pornographic material before they were 12. For those that are adults seeking sexual addiction treatment, nearly all said they believed this early exposure was an element in the development of the addiction. Around 50 percent of those who shared information in the survey also said they were victims of childhood abuse.

Other factors cited in the study suggested that a divorce or a split up of parents, and lack of access to adequate information/education about sex, may have also been involved in the development of the addiction. From a gender perspective, more men (about 57 percent) were looking for professional help for sex addiction ,whereas only 38 percent of women sought professional help.

Effects of living with sex addiction included low self-image, chronic relationship problems, sexual performance problems and co-existing problems with mental health. About 50 percent of those who participated in the survey said the loss of a spouse or partner had occurred in the midst of the addiction. Great losses of productivity and in finances were also noted by participants.

Sex addiction is a serious, progressive condition that requires professional help for recovery. Symptoms in adults or teens can include obsessive, compulsive unwanted thoughts about sex; avoiding social functions to engage in sex; engaging in sexual behaviors in public places; or being unable to stop the behaviors even when the consequences are known.

Other technology providers, such as Android, have offered sexting-related options to users, including Sexy Text. This app shows the viewer long lists of sexted messages that they can send out themselves in their own sexted messages, as well as features like areas to save favorite sex-related messages.

Snapchat is already being utilized heavily by teens, and allows a subscriber to send a picture, text message or video to another person who is also a Snapchat user. The message content is set up to “disappear” after a time span of a few seconds, leading some teen users to falsely believe that sending sexted messages across Snapchat may be more secure than posting pictures on social media sites. Concerns have circulated around the nature of the app itself, as the ability to send an image that disappears may lead teens or pre-teens into experimenting with sexting.

Experts estimate that at least 20 percent of teens may be involved with sexting. Because images can be shared online for years to come, teens can experience tremendous emotional stress or chronic depression from sexting. Others report feeling forced or bullied into sexting, and being victimized through cyberbullying once an image of themselves begins to circulate. Studies indicate that teens who sext may be significantly more likely to experiment with real-world sexual activities.

Experts say the rise of sexcasting is due in part to the constant availability of video producing capacity on most smartphones, and the speed and ease at which a teen can share a video or receive one. The dangers are very real, say experts from Parenting Today’s Kids in a recent article.

The first line of defense may be knowing exactly what children are viewing and doing on their phones, as well as who is sending them information. In conjunction, parents are urged to have conversations over and over again with teens about the risks of sexting and sexcasting. This includes being a victim of cyberbullying, having a sexual predator on the other side of the screen, or having those images shared for years to come. In some states, making and sharing the material can carry criminal charges of child pornography. Cases of sexcasting have been noted in which the victim was unaware they were being recorded, such as a school locker area or other places.

The number of teens engaging in the behavior continues to climb. An AP-MTV study, noted in the article, said that more than 30 percent of teens have gotten messages on their phone or computer that were sexual in nature, and around one-fifth have been recipients of sexual images or sexual videos. Many said they felt teen peer pressure to be involved in sexting or sexcasting. Most don’t fully understand how sexcasting can cause a serious and life-changing impact on their lives.

Experts also recommend that parents use monitoring or filtering technology to help prevent teens from receiving sexual content, as well as software that will alert them of exactly what types of photos or videos are coming into (or going out from) their child’s phone, computer or Ipad device.

The effects of pornography on couples and marriages can also begin at young ages when teens view websites or videos before they are developmentally mature enough. Viewing the images can lead to a change in perception of sex or of a sexual partner as just an “object,” or that they must perform as adults like the scenes depicted in pornographic materials. When they do enter into adult relationships, they can feel dissatisfied or that they are inadequate.

Recent articles quoting attorneys say that pornography usage may be a factor in thousands of divorce cases and it is believed to be a growing element because of the non-stop access to pornography the Internet provides.

The effects of pornography on couples, marriages and relationships can be complex. Symptoms can include:

• Inability to feel they are “good enough” sexually or a feeling of discontentment sexually because their sex lives can’t match up to pornographic materials.
• Lack of communication about sex between partners, especially when one partner has differing views on the use of pornography – either alone or together as a couple.
• As the pornography use increases, one person or both in a relationship can become addicted. The addiction may persist untreated for years, leading to strong feelings of shame and denial that can contribute to divorce.
• Over time, a person’s brain may become accustomed to getting aroused from pornography, and sex with a partner may lose its excitement, even to the point where the person cannot perform sexually at all unless pornography is present.

Additionally, a partner who has become addicted to pornography may retreat from social and family situations or have notable mood shifts – further contributing to relationship problems. Pornography addiction is serious, complex and treated through professionals trained in identifying the factors associated with the addiction.

Educate Yourself

Learn everything you can about child sexual abuse from how and why it occurs to what your child may be going through now and in the future. Understand the psychology of child molesters, what to expect in court, the legal process, signs of post-traumatic stress disorder, and so on. You can no doubt find all the information you need online, but there are also some helpful books available, such as:

• Healing the Harm Done: A Parent’s Guide to Helping Your Child Overcome the Effects of Sexual Abuse by Jennifer Y. Levy-Peck
• Helping Your Child Recover from Childhood Sexual Abuse by Caren Adams, Jennifer Fay, and A.G. Fawkes
• When Your Child Has Been Molested: A Parent’s Guide to Healing and Recovery by Kathryn Brohl and Joyce Case Potter

Reassure Your Child

Immediately after the incident, it is very important to reassure your son or daughter that the abuse was not their fault, that you will do everything in your power to ensure they’re safe from the abuser in the future, and that they are not alone (one in three girls and one in five boys are molested). Plus, it never hurts to say, “I love you and if there is anything you need me to do for you that I haven’t done, you can tell me.”

You do not want to continue bringing up reminders of the event, however, once the initial dust has settled. For example, do not tell your child every week for six months after the abuse that it wasn’t their fault. Say it two or three times initially, then only bring it up if the child does. This is not to say that every so often (two or three times a year) you might not want to ask your son or daughter, “How are you doing or feeling about the incident that happened with Uncle Bob?” This shows your child that it’s not taboo to bring it up but that it is not necessary to talk about it either. You’ll find most young children are not really ready to talk about what happened until they are older.

Understand the Impact on Your Child

Sexual abuse can affect your son or daughter’s self-esteem, trust, ability to be intimate (when they’re young this can mean being tickled or hugged), sense of security, and over-all development. Your child might also begin to have nightmares, wet the bed, suck their thumb, or have problems in school. If your child suddenly does not feel comfortable having you accompany them into the changing room at a clothing store, respect that.

Once your child becomes a teenager, they are statistically more likely to miss school, be promiscuous, get pregnant, suffer with depression, abuse drugs and alcohol, break the law, cut themselves, and attempt suicide. Furthermore, victims of one kind of abuse (physical, sexual, emotional) are more likely to become victims of other types of abuse. Later in life, domestic violence, for example, may be an issue. Rather than being overwhelmed by this unfortunate information, be informed and know what to (possibly) expect.

You Can’t Fix It

It’s not your job to “fix” what happened. Likewise, the abuse was not your fault, and all the guilt in the world won’t change that. You cannot heal your child; your child must do that on their own. If that is taken away from them, they can never empower themselves and reclaim some of the control over their life that the abuser took away from them. Your job rather is to be supportive and loving?period. One of the best ways to empower your child when issues of the abuse arise is to follow three simple steps:

• Listen to what they have to say-don’t interrupt or ask questions; just let them talk
• Validate what your child tells you
• Give options-avoid giving advice (this does not empower your child) but rather ask your child what might be some solutions and then ask them to pick one (this is empowering because they are in control)

Plus, remember that this happened to you too. Talk to a counselor or join a support group.

A recent University of Southern California-based study explored whether or not teens who sext may also be more likely to engage in risky behaviors regarding their own bodies. Results from nearly 1,900 high-school aged students affirmed this assumption.

A previous study suggests that around 25 percent of teenagers have sent a sexual or naked image of themselves to others using a sexted message or with email. The sexting teens were also identified as the group with a higher likelihood of taking those sexual behaviors into real life scenarios, which can increase their risk of acquiring STDs, unwanted pregnancies or being in a potentially violent situation. Another survey from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention also backs this information, stating that around 40 percent of adolescents who have a cell phone have already engaged in sexual activity.

The problem, says experts, is more than the sexting, and more than the risks associated with the act of sex itself. Additional studies have explored how viewing pornographic and sexual images may affect both male and female perceptions of sex and their bodies, with self-image problems or negative attitudes toward sex that can remain for years. Some experts believe girls may believe they are objects for sexual activity with people who are interested, and that they must perform in the sexual ways they see online. Boys may come to believe women are objects of sexual fulfillment, especially since these images and behaviors are being viewed during key developmental years.

Not only are there serious risks associated with sexting and sexual behavior for teens, but in a growing number of situations, the use of drugs or alcohol is also involved.

Parents are strongly encouraged to continue having conversations with their teens about sexting, explaining that it can lead to bullying, unwanted sexual advances and many other risks, including a potential for pornography charges.

This practice is known to be a marker for risky, sexual behavior, according to a recent news article. Researchers say that over one in every four adolescents has sent a nude photo of themselves by electronic means.

About half of those have been asked to send a nude photo and about a third of them have asked for one to be sent their way. Boys were the most likely to ask for a "sext" while girls were more often the ones to send it.

Jeff Temple at the University of Texas Medical Branch in Galveston, TX says they studied 948 high school aged students between 14 and 19 years of age. They evaluated the frequency of sexting and how it related to sexual behavior in students there.

Twenty-eight percent of students reported sending a nude photo of themselves by email or text and 31 percent asked for one. Over half of students (57 percent) were asked to send one and most of them were bothered by the request.

Those students, both girls and boys, who partook in sexting, were much more likely to date, have sex or participate in risky, sexual behaviors than the ones who had never become involved in sexting.

Even more specifically, all of those who had "sexted" had then began dating as compared with the almost 90 percent of those who hadn’t. Similarly, almost 78 percent of those who sexted had actually had sex as compared to the only 43 percent who hadn’t.

Risky, sexual behavior is defined by having more than one sexual partner in the past year. It is also more common among those who have "sexted" versus those who had not.

The much-debated iPhone application called Blendr continues to be a focus of serious concern and conversation among experts, who fear the app is contributing to higher numbers of sex with near-strangers and could be fueling some people’s sexual addictions.

Blendr utilizes GPS systems to let users know if there are other Blendr consumers in their region, describing it in terms that might sound harmless. The reality, say experts, is that many users activate Blendr for sexual experiences with people they’ve met on the spot.

The encounters created by Blendr are often for sex without any kind of commitment or further relationship contact.

A recent news post describes how one Blendr viewer may have had sex with at least 13 people in a three-week period. It’s this kind of randomness that’s especially concerning to psychologists and addiction experts, as it allows people with sexual addictions to continue using sex as a tool for escaping negative emotions and harmful intimacy problems.

Blendr may also create a forum where people with sexual addictions can plan sexual experiences and carry them out in secret, prolonging and fueling the addiction instead of guiding people toward help from the powerful, complex condition.

People with sexual addiction find themselves unable to control urges for the behavior, which can range from sex with multiple partners to paid services or online pornography. As the addiction progresses, many lose their careers, families and financial security.

Professional help is necessary to reach recovery, and growing bodies of scientific research are highlighting the ways sexual addiction causes changes at the brain level, similar to alcohol or drug addiction.

While not every encounter on Blendr ends up in sex, the iPhone app is part of a growing trend toward sexual relationships that start online and quickly progress to real-life encounters that don’t involve any emotion or personal connections. The encounters are also linked to higher numbers of sexually-transmitted diseases across the globe.

Communicating with another person online about sexual fantasies or exchanging sexual photos has become a multi-billion dollar industry to which no age group or demographic is immune. Research indicates the first viewing of a pornographic image online in the U.S. occurs around age 11, and it is estimated that three to five percent of U.S. adults are addicted to sex.

However, the post suggests that young teens and college students may spend more time on computers than people in other demographic groups. Other research indicates this could make these groups even more vulnerable to online pornography addiction or Internet sex addictions.

Researchers in the study, conducted at the University of New Brunswick, said nearly two-thirds of students attending college or universities are participating in sexual behaviors online. When students engage in sexual activities online, they may feel even more uninhibited because they often believe their identity can’t be found out. The reality, however, is that sexual photos or interactions are never truly private online and cannot be removed from cyberspace. They can also be used as bullying material or appear years later across the Internet.

Additionally, without the ability to receive cues from another human in one-to-one contact, the majority of the value of a conversation is missed, say researchers. As students participate in sexual games online or develop more online relationships, they may be more likely to become desensitized to the value of sincere human relationships. This could put them at higher risk for real-world sexual encounters with multiple partners.

In a news post from KSAT, several people shared their story of finding pornography on a spouse’s computer by surprise, much of it very extreme or bizarre content. This can sometimes be a sign that the user’s addiction has progressed and may have been present for some time.

Additionally, when online pornography is accessed without a spouse or parent’s knowledge, children can easily find it and view it. The problem has been cited as a factor in a growing number of divorces, but the new Porn Detection Stick could help alert a spouse or parent if pornographic images have been viewed.

The Porn Detection Stick can search files and download or save the images or sites that may be pornographic in nature, allowing a user to check the images and sites from a separate computer. While attorneys have expressed concern over privacy violations between spouses, the device joins a list of devices and filters designed to help prevent a pornography addiction before it occurs.

In the U.S., the average age at which a child first views a pornographic image online is 11 years old. It is estimated that three to five percent of the adult population is living with a sexual addiction, and professional help is needed to begin a recovery plan.