Most Australian teens who engage in sexting do it privately with someone they trust rather than “willy nilly”, a study has found.

While there may be thousands of raunchy pictures flying between teens’ phones, the vast majority are between girlfriends and boyfriends, according to the University of Sydney research project.

The national project found just under half the 13- to 18-year-olds surveyed had ever sent or received a “sext” (defined for the study as sexual photos and videos, not texts).

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Of those, 61 per cent did so with only one other person within the past year.

Lead researcher Dr Murray Lee says the results challenge any misconceptions that Australian teens share sexts around “willy nilly”.

“Those kids who are active sexters, the vast majority are sexting within relationships,” Dr Lee told AAP.

“Contrary to the notion that kids are willy nilly sending these things around, they’re actually not.

“They’re sending it to someone they trust … and probably having some kind of romantic relationship with.”

The criminology professor says many teens find sexting a “fun” or “flirtatious” activity, although the greatest harm comes from sending a picture without consent.

Six per cent of teens surveyed admitted to doing this.

To minimise these incidents, he says teens should be shown how to act ethically, rather than taught abstinence or victim blaming.

“For the most part, kids are (sexting) relatively safely within relationships,” he said.

“It’s probably not useful to be giving them abstinence messages.