Exposure to sexually explicit Web sites and adolescent sexual attitudes and behaviors.
TL;DR: Exposure to Internet pornography has potential implications for adolescent sexual relationships, such as number of partners and substance use, and longitudinal research is needed to evaluate how exposure to SEWs influences youth attitudes and sexual behaviors.
About: This article is published in Journal of Adolescent Health.The article was published on 2009-08-01. It has received 406 citations till now. The article focuses on the topics: Sexual partner & Reproductive health.
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TL;DR: Recommendations are provided for parents, practitioners, the media, and policy makers, among others, for ways to increase the benefits and reduce the harm that media can have for the developing child and for adolescents.
Abstract: Youth spend an average of >7 hours/day using media, and the vast majority of them have access to a bedroom television, computer, the Internet, a video-game console, and a cell phone. In this article we review the most recent research on the effects of media on the health and well-being of children and adolescents. Studies have shown that media can provide information about safe health practices and can foster social connectedness. However, recent evidence raises concerns about media's effects on aggression, sexual behavior, substance use, disordered eating, and academic difficulties. We provide recommendations for parents, practitioners, the media, and policy makers, among others, for ways to increase the benefits and reduce the harm that media can have for the developing child and for adolescents.
444 citations
TL;DR: In this article, the authors reviewed the literature related to the influence of sexually explicit Internet material on self-concept, body image, social development, as well as the expanding body of research on adolescent brain function and physical development.
Abstract: The recent proliferation of Internet-enabled technology has significantly changed the way adolescents encounter and consume sexually explicit material. Once confined to a personal computer attached to a telephone line, the Internet is now available on laptops, mobile phones, video game consoles, and other electronic devices. With the growth of the Internet has come easier and more ubiquitous access to pornography. The purpose of this article was to review the recent (i.e., 2005 to present) literature regarding the impact of Internet pornography on adolescents. Specifically, this literature review examined the impact of Internet pornography on sexual attitudes, beliefs, behaviors, and sexual aggression. The authors also discuss the literature related to the influence of sexually explicit Internet material on self-concept, body image, social development, as well as the expanding body of research on adolescent brain function and physical development. Finally, recommendations for future research were discusse...
347 citations
Cites background or result from "Exposure to sexually explicit Web s..."
...For example, in the United States, 93% of all adolescents ages 12 to 17 use the Internet; 63% go online daily and 36% are online several times a day (Lenhart, Purcell et al., 2010)....
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...In the United States, as in many other countries, it is illegal to distribute sexually explicit material to minors or knowingly expose them to it, thereby making many types of scientific inquiry difficult....
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...These findings are further supported by Braun-Courville and Rojas (2009), Brown and L’Engle (2009), Lam and Chan (2007), and Peter and Valkenberg (2006a, 2007, 2008b). Häggström-Nordin et al. (2005) examined the sex lives and pornography consumption of high school students (N = 718) in Sweden....
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...These findings are further supported by Braun-Courville and Rojas (2009), Brown and L’Engle (2009), Lam and Chan (2007), and Peter and Valkenberg (2006a, 2007, 2008b)....
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...Studies of this type have examined the impact of pornography on individuals as young as 10 (Ybarra & Mitchell, 2005) and as old as 22 (Braun-Courville & Rojas, 2009)....
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TL;DR: Overall, studies were inconsistent in their definitions of IP, measurement, and their assessment of the form and function of IP use.
Abstract: Internet pornography (IP) use has increased over the past 10 years. The effects of IP use are widespread and are both negative (e.g., relationship and interpersonal distress) and positive (e.g., increases in sexual knowledge and attitudes toward sex). Given the possible negative effects of IP use, understanding the definition of IP, the types of IP used, and reasons for IP use is important. The present study reviews the methodology and content of available literature regarding IP use in nondeviant adult populations. The study seeks to determine how the studies defined IP, utilized validated measures of pornography use, examined variables related to IP, and addressed form and function of IP use. Overall, studies were inconsistent in their definitions of IP, measurement, and their assessment of the form and function of IP use. Discussion regarding how methodological differences between studies may impact the results and the ability to generalize findings is provided, and suggestions for future stud...
261 citations
TL;DR: Cross-sectional General Social Survey data gathered between 1973 and 2010 was used to assess claims that pornography consumption was associated with having more positive attitudes toward teenage sex, adult premarital sex, and extramarital sex and public health researchers’ concerns about males’ use of pornography consumption.
Abstract: Although both storied and extensive, social scientific research on the effects of pornography consumption on males has primarily focused on testing the feminist contention that pornography contributes to sexual aggression against females. Other parties have expressed concern about males’ use of pornography, however. “Moralists” (Linz & Malamuth, 1993) have argued that pornography promotes a permissive approach to sexual relations. Public health researchers have hypothesized that pornography encourages epidemiologically risky sexual behavior. This study used cross-sectional General Social Survey data gathered between 1973 and 2010 to assess these claims for empirical support. In line with moralists’ contentions, pornography consumption was associated with having more positive attitudes toward teenage sex, adult premarital sex, and extramarital sex. Pornography consumption was also positively related to actually engaging in extramarital sex. In line with public health researchers’ concerns, pornography cons...
232 citations
Cites background from "Exposure to sexually explicit Web s..."
...…promotion of practices such as paid sex, multiple sexual partnerships, and contraceptionless sex may contribute to epidemiologically untoward outcomes such as the transmission of sexually transmitted infections (STIs) and unplanned pregnancies (Braun-Courville & Rojas, 2009; Wingood et al., 2001)....
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...Braun-Courville and Rojas (2009) intended to explore such an association, but ultimately did not attempt a significance test because so few of their respondents had engaged in paid sex....
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...Braun-Courville and Rojas (2009) surveyed adolescents and young adults at a health center in New York....
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TL;DR: It is argued that pornography provides a powerful heuristic model which is implicated in men’s expectations and behaviors during sexual encounters, and higher pornography use was negatively associated with enjoying sexually intimate behaviors with a partner.
Abstract: Pornography has become a primary source of sexual education. At the same time, mainstream commercial pornography has coalesced around a relatively homogenous script involving violence and female degradation. Yet, little work has been done exploring the associations between pornography and dyadic sexual encounters: What role does pornography play inside real-world sexual encounters between a man and a woman? Cognitive script theory argues media scripts create a readily accessible heuristic model for decision-making. The more a user watches a particular media script, the more embedded those codes of behavior become in their worldview and the more likely they are to use those scripts to act upon real life experiences. We argue pornography creates a sexual script that then guides sexual experiences. To test this, we surveyed 487 college men (ages 18-29 years) in the United States to compare their rate of pornography use with sexual preferences and concerns. Results showed the more pornography a man watches, the more likely he was to use it during sex, request particular pornographic sex acts of his partner, deliberately conjure images of pornography during sex to maintain arousal, and have concerns over his own sexual performance and body image. Further, higher pornography use was negatively associated with enjoying sexually intimate behaviors with a partner. We conclude that pornography provides a powerful heuristic model which is implicated in men's expectations and behaviors during sexual encounters.
215 citations
References
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20 Jan 2010
3,197 citations
"Exposure to sexually explicit Web s..." refers background in this paper
...Much of this activity may be unmonitored, since more than 30% of adolescents have Internet access in their bedrooms [2]....
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...However, some cross-sectional studies suggest that prolonged exposure can lead to exaggerated beliefs of sexual activity among peers, sexually permissive attitudes, and sexual callousness [25], including more negative attitudes toward sexual partners [2]....
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...This is even more relevant today, as American youth spend one-third of each day with some form of mass media including television, video games, music, and computers [2]....
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TL;DR: Though it is clear that reducing exposure to media violence will reduce aggression and violence, it is less clear what sorts of interventions will produce a reduction in exposure, and large-scale longitudinal studies would help specify the magnitude of media-violence effects on the most severe types of violence.
Abstract: Research on violent television and films, video games, and music reveals unequivocal evidence that media violence increases the likelihood of aggressive and violent behavior in both immediate and long-term contexts. The effects appear larger for milder than for more severe forms of aggression, but the effects on severe forms of violence are also substantial (r = .13 to .32) when compared with effects of other violence risk factors or medical effects deemed important by the medical community (e.g., effect of aspirin on heart attacks). The research base is large; diverse in methods, samples, and media genres; and consistent in overall findings. The evidence is clearest within the most extensively researched domain, television and film violence. The growing body of video-game research yields essentially the same conclusions. Short-term exposure increases the likelihood of physically and verbally aggressive behavior, aggressive thoughts, and aggressive emotions. Recent large-scale longitudinal studies provide converging evidence linking frequent exposure to violent media in childhood with aggression later in life, including physical assaults and spouse abuse. Because extremely violent criminal behaviors (e.g., forcible rape, aggravated assault, homicide) are rare, new longitudinal studies with larger samples are needed to estimate accurately how much habitual childhood exposure to media violence increases the risk for extreme violence. Well-supported theory delineates why and when exposure to media violence increases aggression and violence. Media violence produces short-term increases by priming existing aggressive scripts and cognitions, increasing physiological arousal, and triggering an automatic tendency to imitate observed behaviors. Media violence produces long-term effects via several types of learning processes leading to the acquisition of lasting (and automatically accessible) aggressive scripts, interpretational schemas, and aggression-supporting beliefs about social behavior, and by reducing individuals' normal negative emotional responses to violence (i.e., desensitization). Certain characteristics of viewers (e.g., identification with aggressive characters), social environments (e.g., parental influences), and media content (e.g., attractiveness of the perpetrator) can influence the degree to which media violence affects aggression, but there are some inconsistencies in research results. This research also suggests some avenues for preventive intervention (e.g., parental supervision, interpretation, and control of children's media use). However, extant research on moderators suggests that no one is wholly immune to the effects of media violence. Recent surveys reveal an extensive presence of violence in modern media. Furthermore, many children and youth spend an inordinate amount of time consuming violent media. Although it is clear that reducing exposure to media violence will reduce aggression and violence, it is less clear what sorts of interventions will produce a reduction in exposure. The sparse research literature suggests that counterattitudinal and parental-mediation interventions are likely to yield beneficial effects, but that media literacy interventions by themselves are unsuccessful. Though the scientific debate over whether media violence increases aggression and violence is essentially over, several critical tasks remain. Additional laboratory and field studies are needed for a better understanding of underlying psychological processes, which eventually should lead to more effective interventions. Large-scale longitudinal studies would help specify the magnitude of media-violence effects on the most severe types of violence. Meeting the larger societal challenge of providing children and youth with a much healthier media diet may prove to be more difficult and costly, especially if the scientific, news, public policy, and entertainment communities fail to educate the general public about the real risks of media-violence exposure to children and youth.
910 citations
01 Jan 1998
TL;DR: The Internet's effect on sexuality is divided into the three broad categories: negative patterns, positive connections, and commercial aspects and three of the key factors that combine to give the Internet its power are delineated.
Abstract: This paper highlights a few of the ways that the Internet is having a profound effect on sexuality. For the sake of simplicity, and to better elucidate the points, the Internet's effect on sexuality is divided into the three broad categories: negative patterns, positive connections, and commercial aspects. In addition, three of the key factors that combine to give the Internet its power are delineated. They include Access, Affordability, and Anonymity or as they are called here the "Triple A". Finally, suggestions for how the field should deal with this phenomena are offered.
657 citations
"Exposure to sexually explicit Web s..." refers background in this paper
...Moreover, sex is the most frequently researched topic on the Internet [21,22]....
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...Cooper et al postulate that there are three main reasons that the Internet has become a prominent sex educator for Americans: accessibility, affordability, and anonymity [21]....
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TL;DR: Watching sex on TV predicts and may hasten adolescent sexual initiation and reducing the amount of sexual content in entertainment programming, reducing adolescent exposure to this content, or increasing references to and depictions of possible negative consequences of sexual activity could appreciably delay the initiation of coital and noncoital activities.
Abstract: Background. Early sexual initiation is an important social and health issue. A recent survey sug- gested that most sexually experienced teens wish they had waited longer to have intercourse; other data indicate that unplanned pregnancies and sexually transmitted diseases are more common among those who begin sex- ual activity earlier. The American Academy of Pediatrics has suggested that portrayals of sex on entertainment television (TV) may contribute to precocious adolescent sex. Approximately two-thirds of TV programs contain sexual content. However, empirical data examining the relationships between exposure to sex on TV and adoles- cent sexual behaviors are rare and inadequate for ad- dressing the issue of causal effects. Design and Participants. We conducted a national longitudinal survey of 1792 adolescents, 12 to 17 years of age. In baseline and 1-year follow-up interviews, partic- ipants reported their TV viewing habits and sexual ex- perience and responded to measures of more than a dozen factors known to be associated with adolescent sexual initiation. TV viewing data were combined with the results of a scientific analysis of TV sexual content to derive measures of exposure to sexual content, depictions of sexual risks or safety, and depictions of sexual behav- ior (versus talk about sex but no behavior). Outcome Measures. Initiation of intercourse and ad- vancement in noncoital sexual activity level, during a 1-year period. Results. Multivariate regression analysis indicated that adolescents who viewed more sexual content at base- line were more likely to initiate intercourse and progress to more advanced noncoital sexual activities during the subsequent year, controlling for respondent characteris- tics that might otherwise explain these relationships. The size of the adjusted intercourse effect was such that youths in the 90th percentile of TV sex viewing had a predicted probability of intercourse initiation that was approximately double that of youths in the 10th percen- tile, for all ages studied. Exposure to TV that included only talk about sex was associated with the same risks as exposure to TV that depicted sexual behavior. African American youths who watched more depictions of sexual risks or safety were less likely to initiate intercourse in the subsequent year. Conclusions. Watching sex on TV predicts and may hasten adolescent sexual initiation. Reducing the amount of sexual content in entertainment programming, reduc- ing adolescent exposure to this content, or increasing references to and depictions of possible negative conse- quences of sexual activity could appreciably delay the initiation of coital and noncoital activities. Alternatively, parents may be able to reduce the effects of sexual con- tent by watching TV with their teenaged children and discussing their own beliefs about sex and the behaviors portrayed. Pediatricians should encourage these family discussions. Pediatrics 2004;114:e280 -e289. URL: http: //www.pediatrics.org/cgi/content/full/114/3/e280; con- doms, media, sex, television.
539 citations
TL;DR: This article examined correlates of pornography acceptance and use within a normative (nonclinical) population of emerging adults (individuals aged 18-26). Participants included 813 university studen, who were recruited from the University of Southern California.
Abstract: This study examined correlates of pornography acceptance and use within a normative (nonclinical) population of emerging adults (individuals aged 18—26). Participants included 813 university studen...
492 citations
"Exposure to sexually explicit Web s..." refers background in this paper
...Consistent with adult literature, adolescent males are more likely to frequent Internet pornography sites [31,32]....
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...Published reports of adolescent exposure to Internet pornography range from 38% to 87%, depending on age, participant intention, and time frame studied [24,27,31,33,34]....
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