A new study points to celebrities sending explicit sexual photos and text messages on their mobile phones as one of the reasons why Aussie teens send porno images and SMS on their mobile phones.

The study was made by the Primary Care Research Unit of the University of Melbourne's Department of General Practice. Lead author Shelley Walker discussed the results of the study at the Australian Sexual Health Conference on Sunday.

Among the celebrities who figured in sexting incidents were singer Rihanna who allegedly sent several flirtatious texts to actor Colin Farrell, and Ashley Cole who was divorced by his wife Cheryl Cole in February 2010 after she caught him sending lewd images to other women.

Ms Walker described that the pressure came from both peers and the sexualised media culture that young Australians had to conform for them to fit into peer groups.

She disclosed that the pressure was felt most by teenage boys who were bullied into sending or viewing explicit images on their cellular phones. Otherwise, if they don't participate into such school-yard activities, they are excluded from peer groups or their sexual orientation is questioned.

"Many of the boys talked about feeling pressured to either have sexy photos on their phones or to be looking at the photos on other people's phones.... Young men's masculinity was in question if they weren't into it," Ms Walker was quoted by the Herald Sun.

Besides being doubted as gays if they don't conform, the young men were given the silent treatment by the rest of their age-group teens.

The study interviewed 33 male and female youth aged 15 to 20. Ms Walker said all of their respondents had at least one sexting incident experience. Among them were a 17-year-old male who saved the nude photo of his girlfriend to be used for blackmail, a 17-year-old girl who sent sexy images of herself to a boy she was attracted to but he shared it to several male friends and another 17-year-old girl whose video while engaged in sexual acts at a party went around phones in school.

"Our study reveals how complex and ever-changing the phenomenon of sexting is and that continued meaningful dialogue is needed to address and prevent the negative consequences of sexting for young people," Mail Online quoted Ms Walker.