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Almost half of teenagers now send sexually explicit texts, photos or videos to their peers, and the rise has been blamed on the media.

Wanting to put this theory to the test, researchers from Belgium asked teenage students about their online viewing habits, and sexting behaviour.

They found a strong link between teens who watch a lot of online porn and high levels of sexting, as well as a correlation between music videos and sexual messages.

Researchers studied sexting behaviour in 15- to 18-year-old students. Teens who watched porn were more likely to send sexual messages, and the study also found a link to watching both porn, and music videos and asking others to send a sexual message

Researchers from the University of Antwerp surveyed 329 students aged between 15 and 18 in Flanders, Belgium.

The students were asked how often they use the web, watch music videos and view porn, as well as how often they sexted others, had been asked to send a sext, or been sent sexual images and videos by another person.

A link was found between watching porn and sending a sexting message, and this was significant for both sexes.

The study, published in the journal Cyberpsychology, Behavior, and Social Networking, also found a link between asking someone else for a sexually explicit text, picture or video, and watching both porn and music videos - especially among boys.

The students who said they had received a sexual message were also more likely to watch more music videos.

'The results of our study show that various types of sexting behavior are significantly linked with both pornography and music video consumption,' said lead researcher Joris Van Ouytsel.

'Several [studies] have argued that adolescents' sexting behaviour might be influenced by their media use.

'The purpose of this study was to investigate whether music video and pornography consumption are able to predict a range of sexting behaviours among a sample of adolescents with an [average] age of 16.

'The results demonstrate that sexting behaviours were significantly associated with the consumption of pornography, when controlling for age, gender, and internet use.

'Music video consumption was only significantly associated with asking someone for a sexting message and having received a sexting message.'  

The types of music videos, or artists the teenagers said they watch, were not included in the survey. 

The study also found a link between asking someone else for a sexually explicit text, picture or video, and watching both porn and music videos of various artists (Miley Cyrus is pictured left and Rihanna is pictured right)  - especially among boys