Does Viewing Explain Doing? Assessing the Association Between Sexually Explicit Materials Use and Sexual Behaviors in a Large Sample of Dutch Adolescents and Young Adults
AUTHOR(S)
PUBLISHED
2013 in Journal of Sexual Medicine, Vol. 10(12), pp. 2986-2995
KEY FINDINGS
- The study found that 88% of men and 45% of women reported viewing pornography in the past 12 months.
- This study found that even when controlling for important other factors, viewing pornography influences sexual behaviors.
ABSTRACT
Introduction: Concerns have been voiced that the use of sexually explicit materials (SEMs) may adversely affect sexual behaviors, particularly in young people. Previous studies have generally found significant associations between SEM consumption and the sexual behaviors investigated. However, most of these studies have focused on sexual behaviors related to sexually transmitted infections or sexual aggression and/or failed to adequately control for relevant covariates. Thus, research more thoroughly investigating the association... READ FULL ABSTRACT
EXCERPTS
- "This study, conducted in a large and diverse sample of self‐referred adolescents and young adults in The Netherlands, found that a large majority (88.2%) of young men and almost half (44.8%) of young women reported having used SEM in the past 12 months. Further, it was found that young women used softcore SEM significantly more often than young men, whereas young men used hardcore SEM significantly more often than young women. The preferred media for the consumption of SEM for both genders were first and foremost the Internet, followed by television and DVD/videos. These patterns of SEM consumption are consistent with previous findings, although the prevalence of SEM consumption among men is at the higher end of previous estimates."
- "We found that frequency of SEM consumption among young people is significantly associated with their sexual behaviors, in particular with Adventurous Sex and Transactional Sex, over and above a wide range of control variables, including socio‐demographic characteristics, sexual dispositions, attitudes and skills, aspects of participants' social relationships, and media use."
