Introduction.

Sexting behaviors in adolescents constitute a growing problem, where communication between parents and adolescents can act as a protective factor; however, little is known about the incidence of this variable in the national context.

Objective.

To establish the association between parent-adolescent communication and sexting behaviors among school-aged adolescents from Bucaramanga, Colombia.

Methodology.

A non-experimental, observational, analytical and cross-sectional study was carried out. The participants were 399 students selected by cluster sampling, who filled out a sociodemographic data form, the Parent-Adolescent Communication Scale and the Sexting Behavior Scale. Statistical procedures were performed in SPSS version 25. Bivariate and multivariate associations were calculated using odds ratios (OR), with parent communication as the independent variables, sexting as the dependent variable and demographic data as possible confounding variables.

Results.

It was found that 36.30% of the adolescents maintained open communication with the mother and 56.70% with the father. The prevalence of sexting was 6.80%. Sexting behaviors were not associated with communication with the father (OR=0.91; IC95%=0.42-2.00) and with the mother (OR=0.6l; IC95% = 0.28-3.79).

Conclusions.

Adolescents communicate better with fathers than with mothers and do not engage in frequent sexting practices. Parent-adolescent communication does not constitute a significant protective factor for sexting behaviors in students.