Longitudinal Associations Between the Use of Sexually Explicit Material and Adolescents’ Attitudes and Behaviors: A Narrative Review of Studies
AUTHOR(S)
PUBLISHED
2017 in Journal of Adolescence, Vol. 57, pp. 119-133
KEY FINDINGS
- This review article looked at 20 studies and found that viewing pornography influences the sexual attitudes and behaviors among teens.
- Teen pornography use was found to impact self-esteem and mental health outcomes.
ABSTRACT
This review analyzed longitudinal studies examining the effects of sexually explicit material on adolescents' attitudes, beliefs and behaviors. The review also aimed to provide an analysis of the limitations of the existing studies, as well as recommendations for future research. To be included, publications had to employ repeated measurements, include a measure of sexually explicit material use and participants aged 18 years or under. A total of 20 papers from nine different research projects were reviewed. The results... READ FULL ABSTRACT
EXCERPTS
- "The aim of this study was to provide a narrative review of the longitudinal studies focusing on the effects of sexually explicit material use on adolescents. A number of direct associations between sexually explicit material and adolescents' attitudes, beliefs and behaviors were reported in the studies. Sexually explicit material seemed to affect several sexuality-related attitudes, gender-related stereotypical beliefs, likelihood of having sexual intercourse and sexually aggressive behavior."
