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Pornography consumption among adolescent girls in Sweden
Abstract
Objectives:
The aims of this study were to describe patterns of pornography consumption, investigate differences between consumers and non-consumers of pornography regarding sexual experiences, health and lifestyle and determine associations between pornography consumption and sexual experiences, health and lifestyle among adolescent girls. The hypotheses were that adolescent girls categorised as pornography consumers would report sexual experiences to a greater extent, and a riskier lifestyle and poorer health, compared with non-consumers.
Methods:
A classroom survey was conducted among 16-year-old girls (N = 393).
Results:
One-third (30%) consumed pornography. In this group, almost half (43%) had fantasies about trying to copy sexual acts seen in pornography and 39% had tried to copy sexual activities seen in pornography. A higher proportion of pornography-consuming girls reported sexual experiences compared with peers. A third (30%) reported experience of anal sex compared with 15% among non-consuming peers (p = 0.001). Furthermore, peer-relationship problems (17% vs 9%; p = 0.015), use of alcohol (85% vs 69%; p = 0.001) and daily smoking (27% vs 14%; p = 0.002) were reported to a greater extent than in non-consuming peers. Pornography consumption, use of alcohol and daily smoking were associated with experience of casual sex.
Conclusions:
Pornography-consuming girls reported sexual experiences and a risky lifestyle to a greater extent compared with non-consuming girls. This indicates that pornography consumption may influence sexualisation and lifestyle. This is important to acknowledge when designing and implementing sexual health programmes for adolescents.
... This association also applies to general sensation seeking for both boys and girls [28,31,44], which was supported by longitudinal studies, too [32,45]. Moreover, sexual experience and greater interest in sex was positively correlated with pornography consumption [28,46,47]. ...
... Another point is general risk behavior. Within a sample of Swedish girls, riskier lifestyle (e.g., drinking alcohol or smoking cigarettes) was associated with greater pornography consumption [46]. Delinquent behavior and substance use were more common among those who actively sought pornography [13]. ...
... Moreover, in a regression analysis, risk for cybersex abuse (compulsive use and feeling out of control) was associated with pornography consumption, male gender, anal sex and sexual orientation for adolescents [82]. Among girls, around 40% of those girls who consumed pornography wanted to try out things they had seen in it [46]. Research findings from a Danish study suggest that frequent exposure to consistent themes in sexually explicit media can affect youth in the acquiring of sexual understanding and formation of sexual scripts about how to behave in a sexual setting [83]. ...
... One Swiss study with older adolescents (aged between 16 and 20 years) did not report significant differences between HC and SGM girls' lifetime pornography use, 17 whereas another Swedish study with first year high school girls revealed 3 times higher pornography use among SGM girls than among HC girls. 18 These mixed results may be attributed to methodological and conceptual issues (eg, different sampling methods, cultural diversity). 2 ...
... Similar to lifetime pornography use, some studies reported no significant differences between SGM and HC adolescents' pornography use frequency (ie, both groups viewed pornography once a month on average), 19 whereas in other studies, SGM adolescents used pornography 3 times more frequently than HC adolescents. 11 This high variability in the results of previous studies may be attributed to the different sampling methodologies used (eg, national probability-based versus convenience samples 17,18 ); the different assessment of pornography use (eg, differentiation versus no differentiation between wanted and unwanted exposure to pornography 3,17 ); and the cultural diversity of the samples (eg, Sweden has one of the highest levels of sexual liberalism in Europe and SGM girls' 3 times higher pornography use frequency-than HC girls-was reported in a Swedish sample 20 ). ...
... 9 The present findings supported prior findings from an older adolescent sample from Sweden (participants were aged between 15 and 20 years), reporting a higher ratio of SGM girls using pornography than HC girls (3e9% of the pornography user group were SGM girls, whereas only 0e1% of the non-user group was SGM girls). 18 However, the differences between SGM and HC girls were not as pronounced in the present study. The SGM non-binary group did not differ significantly from the other groups regarding their lifetime pornography use in the present study, presumably owing to a lack of statistical power. ...
Background
The ease of access to pornography has made its use common among adolescents. Although sexual and gender minority (SGM) (eg, gay, transgender) adolescents may be more prone to use pornography owing to sexual orientation–related information seeking and/or scarcity of potential romantic or sexual partners, relatively little attention has been paid to their pornography use and to the quantitative examination of the similarities and differences between heterosexual, cisgender (HC) and SGM adolescents’ pornography use characteristics.
Aim
The aim of the present study was to compare SGM and HC adolescents’ pornography use considering potential sex differences.
Methods
We used a sample of 2,846 adolescents (52.5% girls; Mage = 14.5 years, SD = 0.6), which was collected as part of an ongoing longitudinal study on adolescents’ sexual health. Data were analyzed with 5 groups: HC boys; HC girls; SGM boys; SGM girls; and SGM non-binary individuals.
Outcomes
Adolescents completed a self-report questionnaire about sexual and gender minority status and pornography use (ie, lifetime use, age at first exposure, and frequency of use in the past 3 months.)
Results
Results indicated significant differences between all groups: 88.2% of HC boys, 78.2% of SGM boys, 54.2% of SGM girls, 39.4% of HC girls, and 29.4% of SGM non-binary individuals reported having ever viewed pornography by the age of 14 years. SGM girls indicated a significantly younger age at first pornography use than HC girls, but this difference was not significant among boys. SGM boys reported the highest (median: many times per week), whereas HC girls reported the lowest (median: less than once a month) frequency of pornography use.
Clinical Translation
Results suggest that SGM and HC boys' pornography use characteristics are rather similar, whereas SGM and HC girls’ pornography use patterns may be considered different presumably because of the varying underlying motivations (eg, using pornography to confirm sexual orientation).
Strengths & Limitations
Self-report measures and cross-sectional designs have potential biases that should be considered. However, the present study involved a large sample of adolescents including SGM adolescents, a population group that is understudied.
Conclusion
Approximately two-thirds of teenagers had gained their first experience with pornography in the present sample, and 52.2% reported using it once a week or more often in the past 3 months, indicating that pornography use may play an important role in both HC and SGM adolescents’ sexual development. Gender-based differences concerning pornography use seem to be robust regardless of SGM status.
Bőthe B, Vaillancourt-Morel, MP, Girouard A, et al. A Large-Scale Comparison of Canadian Sexual/Gender Minority and Heterosexual, Cisgender Adolescents’ Pornography Use Characteristics. J Sex Med 2020;XX:XXX–XXX.
... hier vorliegenden Beitrag können die verschiedenen Positionen und die unterschiedlichen Studien nebst Ergebnissen nicht in ihrer Gänze dargestellt werden . (Bridges et al . 2010;Cowan und Campbell 1994); rassistische Inhalte (Cowan und Campbell 1994) 1993) oder zusammenfassend eine ganze "Ideologie" der Pornografie (Prince 1990 Mattebo et al . 2013Mattebo et al . , 2016 . Dies kann als Hinweis verstanden werden, dass Ergebnisse nicht umstandslos auf andere Länder, Personen und Kontexte übertragen werden können . ...
... nd Wirkungsforschung -wie bei den Inhaltsanalysen -eine auf potenzielle Schädigungen abzielende Betrachtungsweise . So wurden u . a . die Übernahme aggressiven Verhaltens (Allen et al . 1995;Bonino et al . 2006;Hill 2011;Owens et al . 2012;Rothman und Adhia 2016), durch Pornografie evoziertes risikoreiches (sexuelles) Verhalten (Luder et al . 2011;Mattebo et al . 2016) sowie generelles ‚sensation seeking' (Beyens et al . 2015;Hill 2011) oder auch freizügigere Einstellungen und Verhaltensweisen (Hill 2011;Lo und Wei 2005), darüber hinaus auch ungesunde Lebensführung (Mattebo et al . 2013(Mattebo et al . , 2016, der Zusammenhang mit Missbrauchserfahrungen (Rothman und Betroffene suchen aktiv mediale St ...
... hman und Adhia 2016), durch Pornografie evoziertes risikoreiches (sexuelles) Verhalten (Luder et al . 2011;Mattebo et al . 2016) sowie generelles ‚sensation seeking' (Beyens et al . 2015;Hill 2011) oder auch freizügigere Einstellungen und Verhaltensweisen (Hill 2011;Lo und Wei 2005), darüber hinaus auch ungesunde Lebensführung (Mattebo et al . 2013(Mattebo et al . , 2016, der Zusammenhang mit Missbrauchserfahrungen (Rothman und Betroffene suchen aktiv mediale Stimuli und können den entsprechenden Impuls nicht kontrollieren . Ein dem quasi entgegengesetztes Problem kommt insbesondere bei jugendlichen Erstkonsumenten zum Tragen: die ungewollte Exposition . Diese "unwanted exposure" wurde mehrfach untersuc ...
Der Beitrag skizziert den aktuellen Stand der Forschung zur Nutzung und Wirkung von jugendlichem Pornografiekonsum und stellt die Ergebnisse einer Studie zum persönlichen Erleben des ersten Kontakts mit pornografischen Bildern oder Filmen vor. Im Rahmen einer repräsentativen Online-Studie in Deutschland wurden 1048 Jugendliche im Alter zwischen 14 und 20 Jahren befragt. 46 Prozent aller befragten Jugendlichen gab an, schon einmal mit pornografischen Inhalten in Kontakt gewesen zu sein, bei denen entblößte Geschlechtsteile zu sehen waren. Der erste Kontakt mit harter Pornografie fand mehrheitlich zu Hause statt. Zentrale Kanäle hierbei waren der Computer und das Smartphone. Bei der Hälfte aller Befragten passierte der Erstkontakt gewollt, allerdings zeigten sich typische Geschlechterdifferenzen: Mehr männliche als weibliche Jugendliche berichteten, dass der Erstkontakt mit Pornografie gewollt war. In vier von zehn Fällen waren die Jugendlichen beim ersten Kontakt mit Pornografie nicht allein. Die Anwesenheit von Dritten bewirkte zudem überdurchschnittlich häufig individuell ungewollten ersten Kontakt mit Pornografie. Die durch den Erstkontakt ausgelösten Gefühle der Jugendlichen waren vielfältig und in der Häufigkeit von der Anwesenheit Dritter und von der Intentionalität der Nutzung abhängig. In drei von zehn Fällen sprachen die Jugendlichen im Anschluss an die erste pornografische Nutzungserfahrung mit anderen Personen darüber. Es wurde im Anschluss häufiger über die erste Nutzungsepisode gesprochen, wenn dabei Dritte anwesend waren und wenn beim Erstkontakt starke Gefühle ausgelöst worden sind. In der Gesamtschau legen die Befunde nahe, dass angesichts der Reichweite harter Pornografie unter Jugendlichen sexual- und medienpädagogischer Handlungsbedarf besteht.
... First, regarding the number of studies included in the review, a total of 20, it should be highlighted that it could be small considering the proliferation of studies on the topic in the last decade (Alexandraki et al., 2018;Amare et al., 2019;Camilleri et al., 2021;Harkness et al., 2015;Peter & Valkenburg, 2016;Tokunaga et al., 2020;Smith et al., 2016) and the growing concern about what adolescents may learn when viewing pornography, including sexual risk behaviors Flood, 2009;Lehmiller, 2018;Roldán, 2019Roldán, , 2022Strasburger & Hogan, 2013). However, one of the main reasons for the small number of studies included in this review is the age of the adolescent samples, as numerous studies on the topic have been excluded because they exceed the range of 10 to 19 years, (see, for example, Koletić, Kohut et al., 2019;Luder et al., 2011;Matkovic et al., 2018;Mattebo et al., 2016;Rasmussen & Bierman, 2018). This fact could be evidencing the difficulties researchers encounter in assessing pornography use and sexual behaviors at early ages. ...
... In the present systematic review, there are some limitations that are important to mention. On the one hand, although the PRISMA 2020 Statement (Page et al., 2021) recommends not changing the inclusion criteria for studies once the systematic review protocol has been performed, the fact of narrowing the age range from 10 to 19 years (without taking into account, for example, the mean age of the sample or a high percentage of participants between 10 and 19 years of age even if the range was exceeded), has led to many important studies in the field not having been included in this review (e.g., Koletić, Kohut et al., 2019;Luder et al., 2011;Matkovic et al., 2018;Mattebo et al., 2016;Rasmussen & Bierman, 2018) and thus may have decreased the quality of the conclusions drawn in the review. On the other hand, with the aim of better understanding sexual risk behaviors, not only behaviors, but also attitudes and beliefs that predispose to sexual risk behaviors, such as attitudes toward condom use (Koletić & Mehulić, 2021), sexist beliefs (Carpio et al., 2021), or attitudes toward casual sex (van Oosten et al., 2016), among others, could also have been included in this review. ...
The objective of this systematic review was to determine whether there is an association between pornography use and sexual risk behaviors in adolescents. A search for scientific articles was carried out in the PsycINFO, PubMed, Scopus and Web of Science databases, obtaining a total of 706 studies. After the selection process, 20 studies were included. In general, the results of the included studies show that pornography use in adolescents is associated with sexual risk behaviors such as early sexual debut, a greater number of sexual partners, condomless sex, having sex under the influence of alcohol/drugs, among others. However, these associations should be interpreted taking into account conceptual and methodological aspects, such as the absence of conceptualization, identification and evaluation of third variables that could better explain this association; as well as the low methodological quality of the included studies, in terms of external and internal validity, making it difficult to generalize and compare the results obtained. Therefore, it is suggested the need to investigate the association between pornography use and sexual risk behaviors in adolescents, taking into account possible third variables and using representative samples, as well as valid and reliable instruments to assess pornography use.
El objetivo de esta revisión sistemática fue determinar si existe una asociación entre el consumo de pornografía y las conductas sexuales de riesgo en adolescentes. Se realizó una búsqueda de artículos científicos en las bases de datos PsycINFO, PubMed, Scopus y Web of Science, obteniéndose un total de 706 estudios. Tras el proceso de selección, se incluyeron 20 estudios. En general, los resultados de los estudios incluidos muestran que el consumo de pornografía en adolescentes se asocia con conductas sexuales de riesgo como el inicio precoz de las relaciones sexuales, un mayor número de parejas sexuales, relaciones sexuales sin preservativo, mantener relaciones sexuales bajo los efectos del alcohol/drogas, entre otras. Sin embargo, estas asociaciones deben ser interpretadas teniendo en cuenta aspectos conceptuales y metodológicos, como la ausencia de conceptualización, identificación y evaluación de terceras variables que puedan explicar mejor esta asociación; así como la baja calidad metodológica de los estudios incluidos, en términos de validez externa e interna, dificultando la generalización y comparación de los resultados obtenidos. Por tanto, se sugiere la necesidad de investigar la asociación entre el uso de pornografía y las conductas sexuales de riesgo en adolescentes, teniendo en cuenta posibles terceras variables y utilizando muestras representativas, así como instrumentos válidos y fiables para evaluar el uso de pornografía.
... For instance, a study done on Swedish girls revealed that there was rising consumerism of pornography in females, especially from liberal countries. 26 One-third of the girls reported viewing pornography, 43% had fantasies regarding trying to copy sexual acts seen in pornography, and 39% of them had tried to copy the sexual activities they had seen in pornography. 26 It was reported that promiscuity and risky behavior were reported more in porn consuming population than in their peers. ...
... 26 One-third of the girls reported viewing pornography, 43% had fantasies regarding trying to copy sexual acts seen in pornography, and 39% of them had tried to copy the sexual activities they had seen in pornography. 26 It was reported that promiscuity and risky behavior were reported more in porn consuming population than in their peers. On the other hand, the study done in the conservative Arab society has revealed that although male adolescents were exposed to pornography and their mothers are cognizant of the fact, for females it is an unholy sin with mothers denying that their girls ever watched porn. ...
Exposure to pornography is not an uncommon and unusual phenomenon in the digital era, with teens being no exception. Exposure to pornography among teens may happen accidentally, out of curiosity, or intentionally to derive sexual excitement. Many individuals exposed to pornography may later develop pornography addiction. Most parents who are aware that their children view pornography are often worried about such behavior and sometimes seek help from mental health professionals. So, it can be certainly said that exposure to pornography among teens may cause significant distress in them and their parents. As pornography is a major source of sex education for a large number of teens, lots of myth and misguided information are harbored from watching pornography. This article focuses on the mental health aspects of pornography exposure among teens and the possible remedial measures.
... As Internet and smartphone use increasingly permeated young people's lives, several studies began to explore adolescents' patterns of pornography use. In Sweden, data collected among students aged 16-18 between 2004 and 2011 consistently found that almost all boys and around half of all girls have used pornography and that 1 in 10 boys use pornography on a daily basis (Donevan & Mattebo, 2017;Mattebo et al., 2013Mattebo et al., , 2014Mattebo et al., , 2016Svedin et al., 2011). One of these studies-a nationally representative sample-found that boys who frequently used pornography had seen all types of pornography, including material depicting violence, significantly more than their male peers (Svedin et al., 2011). ...
... While some of these effects could be positive, for instance providing a source of information or stimulus for sexual arousal (Löfgren-Mårtenson & Månsson, 2010;Mattebo et al., 2012;Smith, 2013), collectively, the evidence seems to point to a link between frequent pornography use and several adverse attitudes and behaviors (Gassó & Bruch-Granados, 2021;Owens et al., 2012;Peter & Valkenburg, 2016). These include: harmful gender-stereotypical attitudes (Brown & L'Engle, 2009;Klein et al., 2020;Peter & Valkenburg, 2007; permissive sexual attitudes (Brown & L'Engle, 2009;Doornwaard et al., 2015;Tokunaga et al., 2019); risky sexual behaviors (Donevan & Mattebo, 2017;Lin et al., 2020;Mattebo et al., , 2014Mattebo et al., , , 2016Svedin et al., 2015); sexual victimization (Romito & Beltramini, 2011;Rostad et al., 2016); and sexual violence (Huntington et al., 2020;Kjellgren et al., 2010;Rostad et al., 2016;Stanley et al., 2016;Svedin et al., 2015;Wright et al., 2016;Ybarra & Thompson, 2018;Ybarra et al., 2011). Not only the frequency but also the type of pornography used-in particular violent pornography-seems to be a contributing factor, particularly when it comes to attitudes supporting violence and aggressive behavior (Hald et al., 2010;Huntington et al., 2020;Rostad et al., 2016;Wright et al., 2016;Ybarra & Thompson, 2018). ...
Using survey data from three nationally representative surveys in 2004, 2009, and 2014 among senior high school students in Sweden, this study investigates trends in adolescents’ lifetime prevalence of pornography use, frequency of pornography use, and type of pornography used over time. While almost all boys and a considerable proportion of girls used pornography across the three waves, the lifetime prevalence of pornography use decreased overall for both girls and boys. The share of boys who use pornography frequently increased over the three survey cycles; those who reported using pornography daily increased from 11% in 2004 to 24% in 2014. In contrast, there was no change in girls who reported using pornography daily, while the proportion who never used pornography increased from 40% in 2004 to 51% in 2014. Adolescents appear to use a narrower range of different pornography types over the survey cycles. Multiple logistic regression models were generated to investigate factors associated with pornography use over the 10-year period. The results suggest that rule-breaking behavior, having higher economic status and higher academic achievement were related to boy’s pornography use, while rule-breaking behavior, early sexual debut and victimization were associated with girls’ pornography use.
... For example, male SMA report that learning about desired sexual activities is a motivation for using pornography (Nelson, Perry, & Carey, 2019). The limited research on the rates of female SMA's pornography use has yielded mixed results (Bőthe et al., 2019); a Swiss study found no significant difference in use rates in the past 30 days between heterosexual and female SMA (Luder et al., 2011), whereas a Swedish study found that bisexual girls were more likely to report ever using pornography (Mattebo et al., 2016). More recently, in a Canadian study, sexual and gender minority girls were more likely to have used pornography by age 14 compared to heterosexual cisgender girls (Bőthe et al., 2020). ...
... Our findings supported Hypothesis 1, namely, that exposure to violent pornography and TDV was more common among sexual minority than heterosexual girls, suggesting these may be important areas for future research and intervention. These findings were consistent with prior work on TDV among female SMA (e.g., Luo et al., 2014) and on female SMA's pornography use from Europe and Canada (Bőthe et al., 2020;Mattebo et al., 2016), contributing to the limited literature on female SMA's pornography use with findings from a U.S. context (Bőthe et al., 2019). Our findings diverged from an earlier Swiss study (Luder et al., 2011), though this may be due to different pornography use measures, sampling techniques, and the different cultural contexts, as other researchers have speculated that discrepancies between findings in varying contexts might reflect differences in sexual liberalism (Bőthe et al., 2019). ...
Previous research indicates that teen dating violence (TDV) is more common among sexual minority than heterosexual adolescents, with approximately half of female sexual minority adolescents (SMA) endorsing TDV victimization in the last year. In samples of adolescents without regard to sexual orientation, exposure to violent pornography is associated with TDV, but this relationship has not been assessed in female SMA. The current study sample consisted of 10th-grade high school students aged 14–17 who identified as cisgender females ( N = 1,276). Data were collected from a baseline survey prior to the delivery of a sexual assault prevention intervention. Female SMA had 2.54 times the odds (95%CI [1.75, 3.69]) of being exposed to violent pornography and 2.53 times the odds (95%CI [1.72, 3.70)]) of TDV exposure compared to heterosexual girls. Exposure to violent pornography was not associated with involvement in TDV among female SMA, controlling for episodic heavy drinking ( aOR = 2.25, 95%CI [0.88,6.22]).
Given the relatively higher rates of violent pornography and TDV exposure among female SMA compared to heterosexual girls, it is critical that sex education curricula address these experiences and meet the needs of adolescents of all sexual orientations. Future research can assess how these TDV interventions might be tailored for female SMA. Although we did not find that exposure to violent pornography was associated with TDV among female SMA, these investigations should be replicated with larger data sets, given that the association between exposure to violent pornography and engagement in TDV was in the expected direction.
... Studies have shown that childhood exposure to violent media causes negative physical and mental health effects for children such as aggression [10][11][12][13] and other types of emotional and behavioral problems. [14][15][16] Studies have shown that Internet pornographic exposure affects an adolescent's sexual attitudes, beliefs, and behaviors, as well as promoting sexual aggression, 17,18 risky behaviors, 19 and adversely affecting academic performance 20 and mental health in adulthood. 21 Parents play an important role in children's use of media and their level of online risk. ...
... The results were consistent with previous studies finding that violence and pornography were widely prevalent in children's daily use of mobile devices. 1,19 This study and Multinomial logistic regression method was used. n = 2,035; *p < 0.05; **p < 0.01; ***p < 0.001. ...
This study assessed the discrepancies between reports from parents and children concerning children's exposure to violence/pornography on mobile devices and the impact on the psychosocial adjustment of children. Data were obtained from a sample of 2,230 parent-child dyads recruited from 16 elementary schools (1,140 dyads) in Taiwan and 9 schools (1,090 dyads) in China. A self-administered questionnaire was used. The results showed that about 30 percent of children reported being exposed to violence on mobile devices. Approximately 70 percent of their parents were unaware of their child's exposure to violence on mobile devices. About 16 percent of children reported exposure to pornography on mobile devices, and 80 percent of their parents were unaware of this exposure. Multinomial logistic regression results showed that after controlling for parent and child sociodemographic variables, factors related to parental unawareness of child exposure to violence on mobile devices included a child's ownership of mobile devices, smartphone/tablet use time, a lower level of parental understanding, and a residence in China or in a rural area, whereas the parent-child relationship and a child's smartphone/tablet use time were associated with parents who were unaware of their child's exposure to pornography. Multiple regression results showed that children who were living with household poverty, had a poor parent-child relationship, spent much time using a smartphone/tablet, and with parents who were unaware of their exposure to violence/pornography on mobile devices were more likely to have emotional and behavioral problems.
... Además de las posibles consecuencias perjudiciales mencionadas, el consumo de pornografía puede tener un efecto negativo sobre la salud física y psicológica de los adolescentes. Algunos estudios informan de una asociación entre el consumo de pornografía y una mayor sintomatología ansiosa y depresiva, mayor obesidad, mayor uso de substancias como alcohol, nicotina y otras drogas (Braun-Courville & Rojas, 2009;Kohut & Štulhofer, 2018;Mattebo et al., 2013Mattebo et al., , 2016Svedin et al., 2011). Sin embargo, el hecho de que haya una asociación no implica necesariamente que la pornografía sea la causa de estas condiciones. ...
... Additionally, females who have never consumed pornography rated paraphilic pornography as less morally and ethically acceptable. Pornography consumers are reporting more sexual experiences, sexual openness and higher valence ratings toward sexual stimuli than non-consumers (Emmers-Sommer et al., 2013;Kunaharan et al., 2017;Mattebo et al., 2016), which may explain the differences seen in this study between females with experiences with pornography and those without. ...
Understanding affective perceptual processes can further contribute to the explanation of motivation and actions, as well as sexual risk behaviors. Pornography can be considered salient emotional content and is popular, also among females. Yet, the female perspective on pornography has often been overlooked and it remains unclear how individual variables may be associated with the affective perception of pornography and could provide a risk profile. Possible associations between several sexual and psychological intrapersonal variables and the affective perception of various forms of pornography were analyzed from the female perspective. A sample of 231 females (M = 21.87 years; SD = 3.9 years) provided ratings of affective valence, arousal, disgust, and moral and ethical acceptance for mainstream pornographic and paraphilic images of dominance, submission, or sexual violence. Paraphilic pornography was perceived as less pleasant, arousing, and moral and ethically acceptable, but more disgusting compared to mainstream pornography. This was more pronounced among females who had never consumed pornography. Results further suggest that the female affective perception of pornography was associated with the following sexual intrapersonal variables: sexual sensation seeking for physical sensations, erotophilia, lack of sexual control, problematic pornography consumption, and sexual disgust sensitivity. Of the assessed psychological intrapersonal variables, only anxiety was negatively associated with disgust for paraphilic pornography. It is important to further analyze the female affective perception of pornography and associated variables to include them in strategies for prevention and for addressing problematic consequences of the acceptance of specific sexual content and behaviors, especially related to sexualized violence.
... Although media can provide positive messages, some of the contents may be distorted and could be potentially harmful leading to the negative consequence. Higher perceived reality of pornographic content, and more frequent SEM usage were predictive of a higher likelihood of participants' sexual experience [43,44]. In this current study even though 73% of them reported that watching pornographic video is not helpful, in practice more than half of them (53%) started it earlier.Internet and magazine availability is very limited, thus the main source of the pornographic videos or pictures is mobile phone devices through which the adolescents share the videos among each other and this can be changed into an opportunity to reach the adolescents on their handsets with evidence based facts in different formats. ...
Background: Adolescent reproductive health problems are a great threat to adolescent’s warfare and such problems are associated with inadequate knowledge. In Eritrea, as adolescent reproductive health is not given much attention, which could lead adolescents to become victims of adolescence related reproductive health problems. Therefore, this study was carried out with the aim of investigating the reproductive health knowledge, attitude and practice among secondary school students in Asmara, the capital of Eritrea. Methods: A cross sectional study design was conducted on 428 adolescent high school students with the age range of 14 to 19 years. Sample size was determined by using a single population proportion formula. Initially, population size of each school and each grade was taken and proportional sample size was determined from each school and then from each grade. The list of students was used and participants were selected using simple random sampling.Data was collected through a structured self-administered questionnaire. Descriptive and inferential analysis were made using SPSS (version 22). Statistical significance level was set at P<0.005. Results: The median age of the study participants was 15 (IQR=2), in which 88.8% were between age of 14 to 16 years with 53% of them being females. The level of knowledge of the students regarding RH was low, with moderate to good attitude. Sexual practice was very low (3.5%) with usage of 86.7% of contraceptive use. Meanwhile, the usage of sexually explicit material was relatively higher (53%). Conclusion: Reproductive health knowledge was low almost in all variables. Meanwhile, significant number of students are already engaged in heterosexual romantic relationships and use of sexually explicit material. Adolescents need to be knowledgeable about themselves and the people they relate to, need sound information about the physical, psychological and social changes that take place through childhood to adolescence.
... Untuk konteks ini, peneliti menarik pola efek domino bahwa pornografi online terstruktur dan massif (sebagaimana di WAG) dapat memperluas repertoar seksual LGBT. Kondisi demikian juga diperkuat delapan studi besar tentang prevalensi penggunaan pornografi di kalangan remaja LGBTQ dengan temuan bahwa dibandingkan dengan remaja heteroseksual, lebih banyak remaja LGBTQ menggunakan pornografi dan mereka mungkin melakukannya lebih sering daripada remaja heteroseksual (Luder, M-T., Pittet, I., Berchtold, A., Akre, C., Michaud, P-A., dan Suris, 2011; Arrington-Sanders, R., Harper, GW., Morgan, A., Ogunbajo, A., Trent, M., dan Fortenberry, 2015; Mattebo, M., Tyden, T., Haggstrom-Nordin, E., Nilsson, KW., dan Larsson, 2016;Vandenbosch, L., dan Peter, 2016;Lim, MSC., Agius, PA., Carrotte, ER., Vella, AM., dan Hellard, 2017;Vandenbosch, L., 2018;Bradford, NJ., De Witt J., Decker, J., Berg, DR., Spencer, KG., dan Ross, 2019). ...
The study aimed to analyze changes in sexual behavior and the prevalence of risk of transgressive sexual behavior from the consumption of organized online pornography in WhatsApp Groups (WAG) for young peoples. The research method used is qualitative interpretive three approaches; Literature review of relevant studies from 2010, interviews, and methods of expertise. The results found 4,210 young peoples experienced pornography addiction and changes in sexual behavior. They are spread in 10 Pornography WAGs with a total of 15 admin accounts. The age range of young peoples in the Pornography WAG is 14 years to 22 years, males numbering 52.49% and females as many as 47.51%. The education status of Junior High School is 13.87%, in Senior High Shool is 48.17% and in Universities as many as 37.96%. The most normal young peoples sexual behaviors include; kissing the forehead/cheek of the opposite sex, hugging, kissing lips, masturbation, fantasizing, touching sensitive parts of the opposite sex, petting, necking and intercourse. While young peoples at a high stage of pornography addiction show transgressive sexual behavior entering criminal acts homosexual, bisexual, sadism, sodomy and prostitution. It was concluded that young peoples who joined the Pornography WAG had made sexual behavior a daily necessity and the Pornography WAG had the potential to expand acts of sexual harassment, rape, homosexuality, bisexuality, sadism, and sodomy. Therefore, preventive-curative, educative-productive and solutive-constructive intervention policies are needed from stakeholders. ABSTRAK Penelitian bertujuan menganalisis perubahan perilaku seksual dan prevalensi risiko perilaku seksual transgresif dari konsumsi pornografi online terorganisir di WhatsApp Group (WAG) bagi remaja. Metode penelitian yang digunakan adalah kualitatif interpretatif tiga pendekatan; literature review studi relevan dari tahun 2010, observasi dan wawancara, serta metode kepakaran. Hasil penelitian menemukan 4.210 remaja mengalami kecanduan pornografi dan perubahan perilaku seksual. Mereka tersebar di dalam 10 WAG Pornografi dengan total admin sebanyak 15 akun. Rentang usia remaja dalam WAG Pornografi adalah 14 tahun sampai 22 tahun, laki-laki berjumlah 2.210 (52,49%) dan perempuan sebanyak 2.000 (47,51%). Status pendidikan SMP sebanyak 13,87%, SMA sebanyak 48,17% serta di PTN/PTS sebanyak 37,96%. Perilaku seksual remaja paling normal mencakup; mencium kening/pipi lawan jenis, berpelukan, mencium bibir, onani/masturbasi, berfantasi, meraba bagian sensitif lawan jenis, petting, necking dan intercourse. Sedangkan remaja pada stadium kecanduan pornografi yang tinggi menunjukkan perilaku seksual transgresifnya memasuki tindakan criminal, homoseksual, biseksual, sadism, sodomi dan pelacuran. Disimpulkan bahwa remaja yang bergabung di WAG Pornografi telah menjadikan perilaku seksual sebagai kebutuhan sehari-hari dan WAG Pornografi berpotensi memperluas tindakan pelecehan seksual, pemerkosaan, homoseksual, biseksual, sadisme, dan sodomi. Sehingga diperlukan kebijakan intervensi bersifat preventif-kuratif, edukatif-produktif dan solutif-konstruktif dari stakeholders.
... Pornography and social media mostly present an ideal image of the female genitalia that seldom agrees with natural and un-manipulated vulvas [2,15]. In a Swedish study among adolescent 16-year-old girls, 30 % reported that they consumed pornography [27]. SWE-FGSIS-7 can be used as a platform in youth clinics, for example, to assess women's genital self-image, and to meet young women's need to discuss their genitalia in relation to images of vulvas they are exposed to, for example in pornography. ...
Objective
The objective of the study was to translate and culturally adapt the Female Genital Self-Image Scale (FGSIS-7) into a valid and reliable Swedish version, and to test the instrument.
Methods
The instrument was translated into Swedish in a three-stage process of translation, back-translation and synthesis. The face validity of the pre-final translation was tested in a cognitive debriefing with a test group of eight women, while construct validity was tested in a group of six subject matter experts. Internal consistency, data completeness, score distributions, and floor and ceiling effects were measured using an online survey with a cross-sectional design.
Results
The Swedish version of the instrument (SWE-FGSIS-7) was perceived as a comprehensible, understandable and user-friendly instrument by the test group and the experts. The online survey included 147 responders with 100% data completeness and no floor or ceiling effects. The internal consistency was good (Cronbach’s Alpha coefficient 0.82). The total mean score was 22.44 (SD = 3.98).
Conclusion
SWE-FGSIS-7 is a user-friendly, understandable, valid and reliable instrument for estimating genital self-image, which can be used to initiate a dialogue that may contribute to increased knowledge about women’s own bodies and strengthen their reproductive and sexual health.
... On the other hand, their self-reported health, apart from being overweight, was no worse than those who did not watch pornography frequently. In a later study, pornography use among girls was associated with similar outcomes, such as more sexual experiences, peer problems, alcohol, and tobacco use [21]. A longitudinal school-based study conducted by the same research group showed that psychosomatic symptoms at the age of 18 were predicted by high pornography consumption at the age of 16 in combination with being a girl, living with separated parents and attending a vocational high school program [22]. ...
The aim of this study was to examine the association between watching pornography and poor mental health in three repeated cross-sectional surveys in Sweden (2004, 2009, 2014) among high school seniors (13,277 students) with an average age of 18 years. The same index questions concerning ever having watched pornography and the frequency of watching pornography during the last year were combined with three different measures of psychological health and background control variables in multiple logistic regression and forward stepwise logistic regression models. The repeated cross-sectional surveys did not find any consistent associations across years between poor mental health and ever having watched pornography or the frequency of watching pornography. Having watched deviant pornography (containing violence, children and/or animals) was associated with poor mental health among boys in two surveys but only in one survey among girls. Other characteristics, such as mother’s unemployment (especially boys), parenting style (especially high controlling parents among boys) and experiences of sexual abuse (especially penetrating abuse among girls), were more consistently and strongly associated to poor mental health across the three surveys. This study stresses the importance of controlling for multiple background variables when studying the association between watching pornography and mental health, since the association might primarily be explained by underlying confounding variables.
... Although media can provide positive messages, some of the contents may be distorted and could be potentially harmful leading to the negative consequence. Higher perceived reality of pornographic content, and more frequent SEM usage were predictive of a higher likelihood of participants' sexual experience [44,45]. In this current study even though 73% of them reported that watching pornographic video is not helpful, in practice more than half of them (53%) started it earlier. ...
Background: Adolescent reproductive health problems are a great threat to adolescent’s warfare and such problems are associated with inadequate knowledge. In Eritrea, as adolescent reproductive health is not given much attention the knowledge is expected to be poor, which could lead adolescents to become victims of adolescence related reproductive health problems and limit their opportunity to build a better future. Therefore, this study was carried out with the aim of investigating the reproductive health knowledge, attitude and practice among secondary school students in Asmara, the capital of Eritrea.
Methods: A cross sectional study design was conducted on 428 adolescent high school students with
the age range of 14 to 19 years. Sample size was determined by using a single population proportion formula. Initially, population size of each school and each grade was taken and proportional sample size was determined from each school and then from each grade. The list of students was used and participants were selected using simple random sampling. Data was collected through a structured self-administered questionnaire. Descriptive and inferential analysis were made using SPSS (version 22). Statistical significance level was set at P<0.005.
Results: The median age of the study participants was 15 (IQR=2), in which 88.8% were between age of 14 to 16 years with 53% of them being females. The level of knowledge of the students regarding RH was low, with moderate to good attitude. Sexual practice was very low (3.5%) with usage of 86.7% of contraceptive use. Meanwhile, the usage of sexually explicit material was relatively higher (53%).
Conclusions: Reproductive health knowledge was low almost in all variables. Meanwhile, significant number of students are already engaged in heterosexual romantic relationships and use of sexually explicit material. Adolescents need to be knowledgeable about themselves and the people they relate to, need sound information about the physical, psychological and social changes that take place through childhood to adolescence.
... sexual harassment and sexual violence [25][26][27] , and has to be viewed as a potential threat to adolescent health and wellbeing. In fact, almost all teenage boys and more than 50% of teenage girls have consumed pornography [28][29][30] . ...
The aim of this study was to investigate sexual behavior, contraceptive use, risk factors as well as sources of sex information among first-year high-school students in Sweden. Secondly, to assess differences between genders and study programs as well as changes over a 40-year period. A repeated cross-sectional survey was conducted in two cities. A questionnaire comprising 77 items was used. The study population consisted of 415 students (63.4% females). The median age of sexual intercourse was 15 years. In total, 37% had had sexual intercourse, compared to 56.3% in 2009 and 45% in 1999 (p < 0.001), and the proportion of students who had their first sexual intercourse was not influenced by gender. More students in vocational programs (46.3%), compared to theoretical (33.3%), had experience of at least one sexual intercourse (p = 0.019). The same extend of contraception use at first and latest intercourse was reported, compared to previous studies. Forty-nine percent were mostly informed about sex from the internet, while in previous years, magazines, family and youth clinics were the main information sources. Comparing over time, students were in general less sexually experienced and less engaged in non-penetrative sex and physical intimacy. These findings call for a new approach, when designing sex and relationship education and health-care counseling in adolescents.
... Cooper (1998) described the three key characteristics of the Internet ("Triple-A Engine": access, affordability, and anonymity), which increase the attraction and usage of internet pornography. Today, men between the ages of 35-50 are the largest consumer group (Blais-Lecours et al., 2016;Rissel et al., 2017), but regular usage is also seen among other groups including women (Baranowski et al., 2019;Herbenick et al., 2020), younger adults and adolescents from various socio-economic backgrounds (Mattebo et al., 2013(Mattebo et al., , 2016Bothe et al., 2020b). This previous research is not free from methodological shortcomings such as small and biased samples or questionable validity of assessment measures. ...
Background: Negative affective states may increase the risk for problematic pornography use. Underlying neurophysiological mechanisms are, however, not completely understood. Previous research suggests that the participants' emotional state may affect neural processing of sexual stimuli. The aim of this study was to investigate neural correlates of negative affect-induced alterations in sexual cue reactivity in healthy men. The moderating effects of habitual porn consumption, trait sexual motivation, and symptoms of cybersex addiction were also considered.
Method: Sixty-four healthy men engaged in a sexual cue reactivity task (passive viewing of explicit sexual pictures and neutral pictures depicting scenes of social interaction) during negative (n = 32) vs. neutral affect (n = 32), induced via tailored feedback on a performance task. Self-reported sexual arousal and event-related brain potentials indicated cue reactivity and motivated attention. Symptoms of cybersex addiction and trait sexual motivation were assessed with the help of the short Internet Addiction Test, adapted to online sexual activities, and the Trait Sexual Motivation Questionnaire.
Results: Negative feedback increased negative affect after the performance task. While sexual pictures compared to neutral pictures elicited significantly larger P300 and late positive potential (LPP) amplitudes, there was no general effect of negative feedback on sexual stimuli-related P300 and LPP amplitudes. In the negative feedback group, men with higher solitary sexual motivation levels showed higher P300/LPP difference amplitudes for sexual stimuli compared to men with lower levels of solitary sexual motivation. The opposite effect was found in the group with neutral feedback. There was no link to other aspects of trait sexual motivation and symptoms of cybersex addiction.
Conclusions: Results suggest that higher levels of solitary sexual motivation may enhance motivated attention toward sexual stimuli among men receiving negative performance feedback. Other characteristics of sexual behaviors and traits provided no exploratory value. Future studies extending onto men suffering from compulsive sexual behavior disorder will have to closer look at the neurophysiological bases of why and when some men develop an addictive pornography consumption.
... Among adolescent girls, studies found an association between pornography use and sexual victimization (Bekele, Van Aken, & Dubas, 2011;Bonino, Ciairano, Rabaglietti, & Cattelino, 2006;Romito & Beltramini, 2015). Female adolescents and emerging adults who used pornography were also more likely to report emulating behaviors they have seen online (Maas & Dewey, 2018;Maas et al., 2019;Mattebo, Tydén, Häggström-Nordin, Nilsson, & Larsson, 2016). ...
... Mixed results were reported regarding adolescent girls. In a study examining a convenience sample of 393 Swedish first-year high school girls [30], significantly more LGBTQ girls used pornography than heterosexual girls (3 to 9% of the pornography user group were LGBTQ, whereas only 0 to 1% of the nonuser group were LGBTQ). However, in another study examining a nationally representative sample of 6054 Swiss adolescents [11], no significant differences were identified between heterosexual and LGBTQ girls regarding their pornography use (2.21% of nonuser girls reported being bisexual or homosexual, while 3.15% of pornography user girls reported being bisexual or homosexual). ...
Purpose of Review: Pornography use is highly prevalent among adolescents, yet lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) adolescents remain an understudied population and knowledge about their pornography use is limited. Therefore, we aimed to provide an overview of LGBTQ adolescents’ pornography use patterns and compare them with those of heterosexual adolescents.
Recent Findings: Despite the fact that there is limited data to draw conclusions, pornography may be viewed at a younger age for LGBTQ girls, be more prevalent, and be more frequent among LGBTQ adolescents than among their heterosexual counterparts. Despite this higher use pattern, LGBTQ adolescents may not be more prone to developing problematic pornography use based on their reported primary motivations for use. LGBTQ adolescents may not only use pornography to experience sexual pleasure, but they can also use it to learn about sexuality and develop their sexual identity. However, LGBTQ adolescents’ pornography use does not appear to be related to more negative outcomes compared with heterosexual adolescents; thus, LGBTQ adolescents do not seem more vulnerable to pornographic materials than heterosexual adolescents.
Summary: Although problematic or compulsive pornography use may seem an obvious explanation, LGBTQ adolescents’ more frequent pornography use may derive from their unmet needs regarding information on LGBTQ sexual activities and may be considered a part of their sexual identity development process.
... More extensive, detailed measures are recommended for future research. In particular, it was an oversight to overlook the potential influence of different types of pornographic materials, as women are exposed to a range of sexually explicit materials, including violent versus nonviolent pornography (Mattebo, Tyden, Haggstrom-Nordin, Nilsson, & Larsson, 2016). Pornography may contain violent or degrading scenes (Romito & Beltramini, 2015) or stereotyped depictions of females (Zhou & Bryant, 2016), which women are reportedly less aroused by than are men (Glascock, 2005). ...
Largely overlooked in the literature, this study investigated factors influencing women’s use of sexual coercion. Specifically, pornography use and personality disorder traits linked with poor impulse control, emotional regulation, and superior sense of sexual desirability were considered. Women (N = 142) aged 16–53 years (M = 24.23, SD = 7.06) were recruited from community and student populations. Participants completed the Narcissistic and Histrionic subscales of the Personality Diagnostic Questionnaire-4, in addition to the Cyber-Pornography Use Inventory to explore the influence of their pornography use (interest, efforts to engage with pornography, and compulsivity) on their use of sexual coercion. This was measured using four subscales of the Postrefusal Sexual Persistence Scale: nonverbal sexual arousal, emotional manipulation and deception, exploitation of the intoxicated, and use of physical force or threats. Multiple regression analyses revealed that pornography use, narcissistic traits, and histrionic traits significantly predicted the use of nonverbal sexual arousal, emotional manipulation and deception, and exploitation of the intoxicated. Effort to engage with pornography was a significant individual predictor of nonverbal sexual arousal and emotional manipulation and deception, while histrionic traits were a significant individual predictor of exploitation of the intoxicated. Findings were discussed in relation to existing sexual coercion literature and potential future research.
... The most frequented pornographic websites depict sex in a gender-stereotypical way without attention paid to commitment or contraception (McKee 2005). This socialization process could explain why several studies show that female adolescents and emerging adults who use pornography tend to have more sex partners, report trying to copy behaviors seen in pornography, are more likely to engage in anal sex compared to female adolescents who do not use pornography (Maas and Dewey 2018;Mattebo et al. 2016). Therefore, female adolescents may benefit from pornography education programming that promotes critical thinking skills, to mitigate influential effects from pornography viewing (see Rothman et al. 2018). ...
Adolescents’ online sexual experiences (e.g., pornography use, sexual chatting, sexualized social media use, and nude image exchange) provide a new context for sexual socialization. Traditionally, online sexual experiences are often aggregated averages, which neglect their complexity and fail to identify individual differences in the experience. Moreover, the lack of longitudinal research in this area has failed to determine if these experiences predict later offline sexual health and violence outcomes. An analysis of two waves of surveys completed by ethnically and socioeconomically diverse female adolescents (N = 296; 49% maltreated; aged 14–16 years) participating in a larger cross-sequential study was conducted to address these gaps. Established latent classes from the prerequisite study of online sexual experiences at Time 1 were Online Abstinent (low probability of any online sexual experiences), Online Inclusive (high probability of all online sexual experiences), Attractors (high probability of attracting attention from others), and Seekers (high probability of seeking out sexual content and interaction). Class membership uniquely predicted HIV risk, number of physically violent romantic partners, and the occurrence of sexual assault at Time 2. Although membership in risker online sexual experience classes predicted later offline risk and victimization, this was especially true for maltreated participants. These findings demonstrate the advantages of examining online sexual experiences in a way that emphasizes their complexity and individual differences in influential susceptibility.
... However, many of these studies examined prob- lematic viewing from a male perspective, and a few had such low viewing rates across women that they were excluded from analyses (e.g., Kraus et al., 2015;Levin et al., 2012;Twohig et al., 2009). However, other studies have observed problematic outcomes associated with viewing in samples of women (Ashton, McDonald, & Kirkman, 2017;Ferree, 2001;Lewczuk, Szmyd, Skorko, & Gola, 2017; Mattebo, Tyd en, H€ aggstr€ om-Nordin, Nilsson, & Larsson, 2016). Despite increased attention over the past decade, problematic viewing in women still has largely been ignored, and thus needs to be more thoroughly examined. ...
Pornography viewing is a growing practice that has been understudied in samples of women. As an answer to calls within the literature, we explored the role of problematic pornography viewing constructs, body image, and relationship satisfaction in a sample of women (n = 949). Structural equation modeling indicated pornography viewing frequency, perceptions of excessive use, and control difficulties were unrelated to body image or relationship satisfaction. However, problematic pornography use to escape negative emotions significantly predicted participants’ body image and relationship dissatisfaction. Future directions, limitations, and clinical implications are discussed.
... Furthermore, numerous researchers have identified a need for more research on pornography viewing among women (e.g., Albright 2008;. Although men tend to score higher on measures of PPV (Kor et al. 2014) and TMI (Levant et al. 2013;McDermott et al. 2017a, b), TMI is expressed by both men and women (Levant and Richmond 2016), and many women use pornography (Albright 2008;Carroll et al. 2008;Ciclitira 2004;Mattebo et al. 2016). Women who strictly adhere to certain TMIs may be drawn to pornography due to depictions of hyper-masculinized (anti-feminine/tough) men consistent with their beliefs. ...
Problematic pornography viewing (PPV) is a growing concern. Based on a masculine gender role strain framework, individuals endorsing traditional masculinity ideology (TMI) may be especially drawn to pornography. However, relatively few studies have explored how TMI is related to PPV. Furthermore, no known studies have explored how these connections differ in men and women. To address these gaps, we conducted a large survey of 310 men and 469 women in the United States assessing multiple PPV and TMI dimensions. A bifactor structural equation model was used to regress PPV domains onto global and specific TMI factors. Invariance testing further examined the moderating effects of participants’ gender in the model. Results indicated that global TMI was unrelated to men’s PPV. However, men’s dominance ideologies predicted greater functional problems and excessive pornography use. Men’s restrictive emotionality and heterosexist ideologies predicted control difficulties with pornography use and using pornography to escape negative emotions. Additionally, men’s avoidance of femininity ideology predicted excessive pornography use and control difficulties. For women, only global TMI was associated with functional problems. Invariance testing suggested the observed gender differences were not due to underlying discrepancies in the measurement of TMI or PPV. Clinical interventions for PPV that incorporate gender role themes are recommended.
... The performers are often physically enhanced and they usually behave in an exaggerated way. There is evidence correlating the increased levels of hetero-anal sex in real-life with its very frequent depiction in popular pornography (Braun-Courville & Rojas, 2009;Mattebo et al., 2016;Rogala & Tydén, 2003;Tydén & Rogala, 2004). This view is also held by front-line sexual health professionals such as those at Edinburgh's Chalmers Sexual Health Centre (Hardman, S. 2016, personal communication, 16 June) and at the Gold Coast Centre Against Sexual Violence (Macleod, D. 2016, personal communication, 11 November). ...
Adolescents are now significant users of internet pornography. Samples of voluntary consumption were identified from 14 countries. Considered collectively they demonstrate that boys are much more interested in viewing pornography than girls and that both genders watch more pornography as they get older. By age 18 most boys are consumers. From a risk management point of view, internet pornography has not been proven to be a safe product. It poses dangers similar to any activity that has a high potential for the development of problematic behaviors or addiction through sustained overconsumption. Until causality linking pornography consumption to harm is either disproven or demonstrated to be very low, there is a strong case for governments and policy makers to intervene in the unrestricted supply of internet pornography to all consumers, particularly adolescents. The precautionary principle should be invoked to minimize the likelihood that internet pornography consumption will become a global public health crisis. Prevention of harm is always preferable to treating it. Reducing risk from internet pornography by discouraging its consumption is relatively inexpensive and easy to do.
Cet article propose un état des lieux critique des connaissances sur les effets de la pornographie dans le but d’envisager les possibilités de la questionner dans les pratiques sexologiques. Après un retour sur les travaux soulignant de possibles effets négatifs, ceux soulignant les répercussions potentiellement positives de la pornographie sont abordés. Dans un second temps, quelques une des limites des travaux actuellement menés sont soulignées : difficulté à définir le concept de pornographie, simplification d’un phénomène complexe, limites liées au design des études. Les liens entre pornographies et éducation sexuelle sont interrogés. Des pistes pour optimiser l’accompagnement et l’alliance thérapeutique sont envisagées, tant concernant la posture à adopter que les dimensions et questions à interroger et se poser.
Mots clés : pornographie, pensée critique, revue de littérature, prise en charge, éducation sexuelle
Abstract : This article proposes a critical review of the knowledge on the effects of pornography in order to consider the possibilities of questioning it in sexological practices. After a review of the scientific works underlining these possible negative effects, those underlining the potentially positive repercussions of pornography are discussed. Secondly, some of the limitations of the works currently conducted are highlighted: difficulty in defining the concept of pornography, simplification of a complex phenomenon, and limitations related to the design of the studies. The links between pornography and sexual education are questioned. Directions for optimizing the accompaniment and the therapeutic alliance are envisaged, as much concerning the posture to adopt as the dimensions and questions to ask.
Keywords: pornography, critical thinking, literature review, care, sex education
Intervention lors du webinaire de l’Association Interdisciplinaire post-Universitaire de Sexologie (AIUS) du 12 Janvier 2023. Dans ce travail, nous proposons (i) un retour sur les résultats de la littérature internationale traitant les effets de la pornographie ; (ii) de souligner l’importance de la contextualisation des résultats et des modèles implicites simplificateurs les sous-tendants ; (iii) mettre en évidence la nécessité d’un regard complexe afin de (iv) dégager modalités d’intervention pratiques et cliniques permettant d’aborder la pornographie avec les patient.e.s.
Le replay est disponible gratuitement : https://aius.fr/webconferences/pornographie/
Pornography consumption is commonplace amongst adolescents In the United States and other countries. Curiosity exists about the role consumption (both type and frequency) potentially plays in cognitive, psychological, and behavioral outcomes for this population. Theories such as symbolic interactionism assist in our understanding of how meaning relates to these outcomes. The current article includes existing literature and established constructs derived from symbolic interactionist theory along with gender as a moderator. Collectively, this information serves as a basis for the proposed midrange model exploring adolescent pornography consumption and varying associated positive and negative outcomes.
Although there is a growing interest in understanding the impact of types and patterns of Internet use on individuals of different ages, relatively few studies have fully considered developmental perspectives. This chapter offers an overview of the main findings regarding Internet use and problematic Internet use during stages of development. It includes both behavioral development and neurodevelopment and describes frequently performed online behaviors including social networking, online sex, gambling and gaming, and cyberbullying.
Using six samples of unmarried U.S. residents aged 18-24 who were part of a larger biennial nationally representative survey (2008-2018), the present study examined whether pornography consumption is a risk factor for condomless sex during emerging adulthood. Condomless sex is the norm in popular, commonly consumed, pornography. Further, emerging adulthood is a time of heightened sexual experimentation and risk taking, and many emerging adults view pornography. Consistent with a sexual scripting perspective on media processes and effects, emerging adults who viewed pornography were more likely to have condomless sex than their peers who did not consume pornography. The link between pornography use and condomless sex was similar for men and women, white youth and youth of color, as well as heterosexual and LGB youth. The link was not moderated by age. Further, the link was robust even when indicators of both sexual and nonsexual sensation seeking predilections were included in analyses. These results are consistent with recent suggestions from public health experts that sex education programs need to include modules on pornography literacy.
El uso de pornografía y el consumo de drogas lícitas en los adolescentes son dos conductas que requieren atención, esto en relación con los riesgos de que ambas conductas pueden afectar la salud mental y el sano desarrollo del adolescente. Objetivos: Comparar el uso de pornografía en los adolescentes de secundaria por consumidores y no consumidores, además de conocer la relación del uso de pornografía y la edad de inicio del consumo de drogas lícitas. Materiales y Método: Estudio de diseño descriptivo correlacional de corte transversal en 168 adolescentes de secundaria con edades entre los 12 y 15 años, el muestreo fue probabilistico aleatorio. Resultados y Conclusiones: Los hombres fueron los mayores consumidores de pornografía y de consumo de alcohol y tabaco. Al comparar el uso de pornografía por consumidores y no consumidores de drogas licitas se encontraron diferencias significativas solo en los consumidores de alcohol presentando medias y medianas más altas (U=863.50, p<.001). Al realizar la correlación Rho de Spearman por sexo se encontró que la edad de inicio de consumo de alcohol en los hombres se correlacionó negativamente con la subescala de fantasías y en las mujeres se encontró que la edad de incio de consumo de alcohol se correlacionó positivamente con la edad de inicio de tabaco y con la subescala de fantasías.
Background Despite viewing less often than young men, young women view pornography. This study used an online survey to describe young women's pornography use and their reflections on the influence of this use.
Methods:
Young Australian women (15-29 years) were recruited via Facebook to complete an online survey in 2016. Respondents who had ever viewed pornography (n = 491) were asked 10 closed-ended questions related to their exposure to pornography and an open-ended question: 'How has pornography influenced your life?'. Quantitative responses were descriptively analysed. Qualitative responses were thematically analysed using a descriptive qualitative approach.
Results:
Most respondents (89%) watched pornography alone for sexual arousal and openly reflected on the influence of their own use. Two overarching themes were identified across qualitative data. The first, exploration, included positive sub-themes of safety, independence, normalisation of sexuality and diversity in body type. The second, harm, included negative sub-themes related to conditioning, comparison and dependency. Themes were identified separately among two discrete groups, but were also described concurrently among a third group of (mostly older) respondents who experienced pornography both as a place for exploration and as a potential source of harm.
Conclusion:
Young women watch pornography and have positive, negative and mixed experiences that they link to their own viewing. Future research must provide a safe space for young women to be honest regarding their pornography use to ensure that their perspectives are heard and understood.
Research indicates that pornography use is now practically ubiquitous among males and continually increasing among females. These statistics are concerning in light of decades of research signaling that pornography use may be associated with sexually coercive behavior. Though the relationship between pornography use and sexual coercion has been a focus of concern, the apparent inconsistency in methods used to assess pornography limits the field from approaching a consensus on the strength of this relationship, as well as developing a thorough understanding regarding which aspects of pornography use drive this relationship. The purpose of the current study is to systematically review the literature on pornography use over the last ten years. This review will provide an updated examination of the operationalization and assessment of pornography use in peer-reviewed studies, synthesize the assessment of pornography use from various disciplines, and provide suggestions for the assessment of pornography use moving forward. Results of this review will serve as a potential guideline for the improvement of methodologies used to assess pornography use, and to facilitate movement towards more consistent methodological approaches to strengthen research examining the relationship between pornography use and sexual coercion.
Pornography use is a common activity in the developed world. This work consolidates research about pornography use into an organizational structure that is relevant to sexual motivation more broadly. To accomplish this, a comprehensive review of research is conducted, examining personality, emotional, and attitudinal associates and predictors of pornography use, as well as behaviours, attitudes, and motivations that are associated with or predicted by pornography use. Reviewing over 130 studies, the present work demonstrates that pornography is most often consumed for pleasure-seeking purposes, that it associated with increases in casual or impersonal approaches to sexuality, and that it predicts more pleasure-oriented approaches to sexual behaviour. The implications of these findings are discussed.
‘Pornography’ is a protean term, rendered more complex by the digital age. Social science researchers need not only a useful definition but also awareness of how the term is applied (by researchers and research participants) and clarity about the scope of material to be included. As part of our attempts to understand the meaning of ‘pornography’, we thematically analyzed definitions presented in recent and prominent pornography research publications and scholarly articles dedicated to defining pornography. We concluded that a useful definition has three components: content, the intention of the producer, and contextual judgement. We then identified implications for pornography of new technology: expanded opportunities for access and content, the interaction and immersion enabled by virtual reality, ‘pornification’ of culture, and challenges to the meaning of consent presented by self-produced content. We argue that pornography should be distinguished from material produced and distributed without participants’ consent. We propose that researchers incorporate new technologies into measurement tools and suggest that they acknowledge context and practise reflexivity. We present as a working definition of ‘pornography’: ‘Material deemed sexual, given the context, that has the primary intention of sexually arousing the consumer and is produced and distributed with the consent of all persons involved’.
This paper presents meta-analytic findings on pornography consumption and impersonal sexual attitudes and behaviors. Results were based on more than 70 reports spanning over 40 years of research. Data from 13 countries were located, with attitudinal results from more than 45,000 participants and behavioral results from over 60,000 participants. Pornography consumption was associated with an impersonal approach to sex among both men and women; among both adolescents and adults; and across countries, time, and methods. Mediation results were consistent with the sexual script theory hypothesis that viewing pornography leads to more impersonal sexual attitudes, which in turn increase the likelihood of engaging in impersonal sexual behavior. Confounding analysis did not support the libertarian theory of pornography's hypothesis that the only reason why pornography consumption correlates with impersonal sexual behavior is because people who are already impersonal in their approach to sex are more likely to consume pornography and engage in impersonal sexual acts.
This study used latent class analysis to identify patterns (i.e., classes) across a broad range of online sexual experiences among female adolescents (n = 312) and to explore offline sexual behavior and substance use correlates of as well as maltreatment differences in class membership. The following four classes were identified: Online Abstinent, Online Inclusive, Attractors, and Seekers. Maltreated female adolescents were more likely to be members of the Online Inclusive class and less likely to be members of the Online Abstinent class than nonmaltreated female adolescents. Offline sexual behaviors and substance use differentially predicted class membership. These results suggest online sexual experiences vary greatly and should not be aggregated together as a global risk factor for all female adolescents.
The impact of internet-dis- tributed “new pornography” on sexual behaviour and gender relations cannot be denied. To solve this problem, we have conducted a study based on a well-founded theoretical and empirical approach. The study was designed to obtain a sample of activities in the private sphere, in relation to the consumption of pornography on the internet, differentiat- ed by gender. Results and conclusions: 1) pornography on the internet can infuence sexual attitudes, moral values, and sexual activity of youth; 2) males are the greatest consumers of pornography on the internet and are the most likely to experience changes in sexual practices; and 3) easy access to pornography on the internet is part of a highly sexualized environment.
The purpose of this review was to determine whether an association exists between sexual risk behaviors and pornography consumption. Consumption of pornography is common, yet research examining its link with sexual risk behaviors is in its infancy. Indicators of sexual risk behavior, including unsafe sex practices and a higher number of sexual partners, have been linked to poor health outcomes. A systematic literature search was performed using Medline, PsycINFO, Web of Knowledge, Pubmed, and CINAHL. Studies were included if they assessed the association between pornography use and indicators of sexual risk behaviors in an adult population. A total of 17 were included in the review, and all were assessed for research standards using the Quality Index Scale. For both Internet pornography and general pornography, links with greater unsafe sex practices and number of sexual partners were identified. Limitations of the literature, including low external validity and poor study design, restrict the generalizability of the findings. Accordingly, replication and more rigorous methods are recommended for future research.
Abstract The relationship between masturbation and sexual desire has not been systematically studied. The present study assessed the association between masturbation and pornography use and the predictors and correlates of frequent masturbation (several times a week or more often) among coupled heterosexual men who reported decreased sexual desire (DSD). Analyses were carried out on a subset of 596 men with DSD (mean age = 40.2 years), who were recruited as part of a large online study on male sexual health in three European countries. A majority of the participants (67%) reported masturbating at least once a week. Among men who masturbated frequently, 70% used pornography at least once a week. A multivariate assessment showed that sexual boredom, frequent pornography use, and low relationship intimacy significantly increased the odds of reporting frequent masturbation among coupled men with DSD. These findings point to a pattern of pornography-related masturbation that can be dissociated from partnered sexual desire and can fulfill diverse purposes. Clinical implications include the importance of exploring specific patterns of masturbation and pornography use in the evaluation of coupled men with DSD.
The study investigated the differences between high school boys and girls in: (1) the use of pornography, (2) sexual experiences, (3) experience of sexual abuse, and (4) perceptions of sexuality and pornography. It also examined the possible predictors of experiencing sexual activities, such as sex, sociodemographic factors (high school program, household, and ethnic background), pornography consumption, experience of sexual abuse, perception of sexuality, and perception of pornography.
A population-based classroom survey of 16-year-old boys (n = 477) and girls (n = 400) from 53 randomly selected high school classes in 2 towns in mid-Sweden.
Almost all boys (96%, n = 453) and 54% of the girls (n = 213) had watched pornography. Regardless of sex, pornography consumers had a positive perception of pornography. There were no differences between pornography-consuming boys and girls regarding fantasies, and they had attempted sexual acts inspired by pornography. A higher proportion of girls (15%) than boys (6%) had experienced sexual abuse. Predictors for being sexually experienced (oral sex, intercourse, and anal sex) included: being a girl, attending a vocational high school program, living with separated parents, having experience of sexual abuse, stating that boys and girls are equally interested in sex, and having a positive perception of pornography (Adj. R = 0.166).
Boys had more experience of and a more positive perception of pornography, but there were only a few differences between boys and girls in the pornography-consumer group. Girls were more sexually experienced than boys. A positive perception of pornography predicted being sexually experienced.
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 students (500 women; M age = 20 years) recruited from six college sites across the United States. Participants completed online questionnaires regarding their acceptance and use of pornography, as well as their sexual values and activity, substance use, and family formation values. Results revealed that roughly two thirds (67% ) of young men and one half (49%) of young women agree that viewing pornography is acceptable, whereas nearly 9 out of 10 (87%) young men and nearly one third (31%) of young women reported using pornography. Results also revealed associations between pornography acceptance and use and emerging adults' risky sexual attitudes and behaviors, substance use patterns, and nonmarital cohabitation values. The discussion considers the implications of pornography use during the transition to adulthood.
The sex drive refers to the strength of sexual motivation. Across many different studies and measures, men have been shown to have more frequent and more intense sexual desires than women, as reflected in spontaneous thoughts about sex, frequency and variety of sexual fantasies, desired frequency of intercourse, desired number of part - ners, masturbation, liking for various sexual practices, willingness to forego sex, initi - ating versus refusing sex, making sacrifices for sex, and other measures. No contrary findings (indicating stronger sexual motivation among women) were found. Hence we conclude that the male sex drive is stronger than the female sex drive. The gender dif - ference in sex drive should not be generalized to other constructs such as sexual or or - gasmic capacity, enjoyment of sex, or extrinsically motivated sex. If the world were designed for the primary goal of maximizing human happiness, the sexual tastes of men and women would match up very closely. What could be more ideal than perfect attunement with one's mate, so that both people feel sexual desire at the same times, to the same degrees, and in the same ways? Yet there is ample evidence that romantic partners are sometimes out of synchrony with each other's sexual wishes and feelings. The continuing market for sexual advice, sex therapy, couple counseling, and similar offerings is a testimony to the fact that many people are not perfectly satisfied with their sex lives even within committed re- lationships. Infidelity and divorce may also sometimes reflect sexual dissatisfaction. The focus of this article is on one potential source of
Responding to a call for research on pornography and women's sexuality made by Weinberg, Williams, Kleiner, and Irizarry (2010), this study assessed pornography consumption, predictors, and correlates using nationally representative data gathered from U.S. women between 1973 and 2010 (N = 18,225). Women who were younger, less religious, and non-White were more likely to consume pornography. Women who consumed pornography had more positive attitudes toward extramarital sex, adult premarital sex, and teenage sex. Women who consumed pornography also had more sexual partners in the prior year, prior 5 years, and were more likely to have engaged in extramarital sex and paid sex. Consistent with Wright's (2011a) acquisition, activation, application model of mass media sexual socialization and the theorizing of Linz and Malamuth (1993), liberal-conservative ideology moderated the association between pornography exposure and sexual behavior. Specifically, the positive association between pornography exposure and women's recent sexual behavior was strongest for the most liberal women and weakest for the most conservative women. Cultural commentators and some academics argue that technological advances have resulted in a steady increase in the percentage of individuals who consume pornography. Little support was found for this assertion among U.S. women.
To describe and get a deeper understanding of how groups of young women and men reflect on and discuss pornography and its spread in the media and society, and its possible influence on sexual behaviour and relationships.
Six focus group interviews were conducted with teenagers, three with women (n = 17) and three with men (n = 18). Open questions about pornography and its spread in the media and society were discussed. The interviews were tape-recorded and transcribed verbatim. Data were analysed according to Grounded Theory.
The core category 'A discriminatory sexuality' illustrates how participants felt regarding the messages conveyed by pornography portraying a man's role as dominant and a woman's role as subordinate. Pornographic messages were described as 'Fiction' depicting a distorted reality. Feelings of ambivalence towards pornography were expressed: anxiety and fear, but also inspiration. Participants said pornography occurred everywhere in the media and society, and felt pressured by messages relating to looks and sexual techniques.
Pornography and its spread in the media and society were considered as presenting a discriminatory image of body ideals, sexuality and relationships. Despite this awareness, both men and women considered pornography as sources of knowledge and inspiration: an apparent paradox.
Social capital has lately received much attention in health research. The present study investigated whether two measures of subjective social capital were related to psychosomatic symptoms, musculoskeletal pain, and depression in a large population of Swedish adolescents.
A total of 7757 13-18 year old students anonymously completed the Survey of Adolescent Life in Vestmanland 2008 which included questions on sociodemographic background, neighbourhood social capital, general social trust, and ill health.
Low neighbourhood social capital and low general social trust were associated with higher rates of psychosomatic symptoms, musculoskeletal pain, and depression. Individuals with low general social trust had more than three times increased odds of being depressed, three times increased odds of having many psychosomatic symptoms, and double the odds of having many symptoms of musculoskeletal pain.
The findings make an important contribution to the social capital - health debate by demonstrating relations between social capital factors and self-reported ill health in a young population.
To investigate consumption of and attitudes toward pornography in relation to demographic factors and relationships to parents among third-year high school students.
A random sample of 718 students with a mean age 18 years (range 17-21) completed a classroom questionnaire consisting of 89 questions.
More students in practical than in theoretical study programmes had parents with a practical profession (p < 0.001). More parents to students attending theoretical programmes owned their housing (p < 0.001). More men than women had ever consumed pornography (98% vs. 72%; p < 0.001). More practical than theoretical students were influenced by watching pornographic films, fantasizing about (p < 0.05) or having performed acts inspired by pornography (p < 0.05). Both theoretical and practical male students had more favourable attitudes toward pornography than either group of female students (p < 0.001; p = 0.037). More female, than male students, were of the opinion that pornography could create uncertainty and demands.
Students' high school programme choices partly reflect their social background. Pornography was consumed mainly by male students, who also had the most favourable attitudes, while females mainly had negative attitudes. To promote sexual health these differences between genders and study programmes should be taken into consideration in counselling, and in sex- and relationships education.
A self-report screening scale of adult attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), the World Health Organization (WHO) Adult ADHD Self-Report Scale (ASRS) was developed in conjunction with revision of the WHO Composite International Diagnostic Interview (CIDI). The current report presents data on concordance of the ASRS and of a short-form ASRS screener with blind clinical diagnoses in a community sample.
The ASRS includes 18 questions about frequency of recent DSM-IV Criterion A symptoms of adult ADHD. The ASRS screener consists of six out of these 18 questions that were selected based on stepwise logistic regression to optimize concordance with the clinical classification. ASRS responses were compared to blind clinical ratings of DSM-IV adult ADHD in a sample of 154 respondents who previously participated in the US National Comorbidity Survey Replication (NCS-R), oversampling those who reported childhood ADHD and adult persistence.
Each ASRS symptom measure was significantly related to the comparable clinical symptom rating, but varied substantially in concordance (Cohen's kappa in the range 0.16-0.81). Optimal scoring to predict clinical syndrome classifications was to sum unweighted dichotomous responses across all 18 ASRS questions. However, because of the wide variation in symptom-level concordance, the unweighted six-question ASRS screener outperformed the unweighted 18-question ASRS in sensitivity (68.7% v. 56.3%), specificity (99.5% v. 98.3%), total classification accuracy (97.9% v. 96.2%), and kappa (0.76 v. 0.58).
Clinical calibration in larger samples might show that a weighted version of the 18-question ASRS outperforms the six-question ASRS screener. Until that time, however, the unweighted screener should be preferred to the full ASRS, both in community surveys and in clinical outreach and case-finding initiatives.
The purpose of this study was to investigate the use of and attitudes among young people toward pornography and their sources of information about sexuality. Eight hundred and seventy-six young people ages 15-25 years (555 females and 321 males) who visited a youth center in Sweden for a period of 1 year answered a questionnaire about their use of pornography, their attitudes toward pornography, and sources of information about sexuality. Although most had seen pornographic movies, the youngest boys reported viewing the most pornography. The male participants reported that the most common reason they viewed pornography was to get aroused and to masturbate, whereas the female participants stated that they viewed pornography out of curiosity. The most frequent source of information about sexuality was peers. These results illustrate the importance of sex education to give factual information about sexuality and to counteract the messages about sexuality presented in pornography.
RECENT development and use of the Self-Rating Depression Scale (SDS) has Proven to be a valuable tool in the assessment of depressive disorders in a group of hospitalized inpatients.1 There is a similar need in outpatient clinics to quantitate the amount of depressive symptomatology present or absent in the patients seen for treatment. Depressive symptoms may be present in any of the psychiatric disturbances seen in such a clinic, and a diagnosis of depressive disorder must still be made on a clinical basis. However, the use of such a scale is valuable in documenting and quantitating initial symptoms and complaints, and following changes in the patient's clinical course subsequent to treatment, using any of the modalities available.
The purpose of a self-rating depression scale to be used in such an outpatient clinic setting would be similar to the ones stated previously with respect to its
Purpose of review:
To examine cyber safety for adolescent girls, specifically issues around the definition, measurement, prevalence, and impact of cyberbullying, harassment, sexting, pornography, and solicitation.
Recent findings:
Despite some continuing disagreements about definition, especially around cyberbullying and cyber harassment, and about measurement, it is clear that a significant minority of adolescents have potentially or actually harmful experiences on the Internet. There are important sex differences, and those exploited by pornography are mainly women. On some measures, these dangers have increased in recent years, although the extent can be exaggerated. The nature of Internet grooming appears to be changing. Negative effects are well documented in a range of domains, although more longitudinal studies are needed. Individual coping strategies, family and school-based support, and legal actions, all have a role to play in minimizing these dangers.
Summary:
Cyber safety is an important issue. More research and action is needed, and interventions need to be evaluated for their effectiveness.
Abstract In the context of Internet addiction, cybersex is considered to be an Internet application in which users are at risk for developing addictive usage behavior. Regarding males, experimental research has shown that indicators of sexual arousal and craving in response to Internet pornographic cues are related to severity of cybersex addiction in Internet pornography users (IPU). Since comparable investigations on females do not exist, the aim of this study is to investigate predictors of cybersex addiction in heterosexual women. We examined 51 female IPU and 51 female non-Internet pornography users (NIPU). Using questionnaires, we assessed the severity of cybersex addiction in general, as well as propensity for sexual excitation, general problematic sexual behavior, and severity of psychological symptoms. Additionally, an experimental paradigm, including a subjective arousal rating of 100 pornographic pictures, as well as indicators of craving, was conducted. Results indicated that IPU rated pornographic pictures as more arousing and reported greater craving due to pornographic picture presentation compared with NIPU. Moreover, craving, sexual arousal rating of pictures, sensitivity to sexual excitation, problematic sexual behavior, and severity of psychological symptoms predicted tendencies toward cybersex addiction in IPU. Being in a relationship, number of sexual contacts, satisfaction with sexual contacts, and use of interactive cybersex were not associated with cybersex addiction. These results are in line with those reported for heterosexual males in previous studies. Findings regarding the reinforcing nature of sexual arousal, the mechanisms of learning, and the role of cue reactivity and craving in the development of cybersex addiction in IPU need to be discussed.
On the basis of an online survey of 352 teenagers aged between 16 and 19, the use of pornographic video clips and films was investigated along with the connection between this use and indicators of adolescents’ perceived autonomy, peer group influences, and notions of sexuality. We found that many adolescents regularly use pornographic video clips or films. Respondents who regard themselves as less independent of their environment, especially their parents, use pornography more frequently themselves. For girls, this also applies if they assess the use within their peer group as particularly extensive, and for boys, if they frequently discuss pornography within their peer group. A high level of consumption of sexually explicit media also goes hand in hand with the assumption that people generally have sexual intercourse earlier in life and that people generally favor more varied sexual techniques.
To describe patterns of pornography use among high school boys and to investigate differences between frequent, average, and nonfrequent users of pornography with respect to sexual experiences, lifestyles, and self-rated health.
A population-based classroom survey among 16-year-old boys (n = 477), from 53 randomly selected high school classes in 2 towns in mid-Sweden.
Almost all boys, 96% (n = 453), had watched pornography. Frequent users of pornography (everyday) (10%, n = 47) differed from average users (63%, n = 292) and nonfrequent users (27%, n = 126). Frequent users versus average users and nonfrequent users had more sexual experiences, such as one night stands (45, 32, 25%, respectively) and sex with friends more than 10 times (13, 10, 2%). A higher proportion of frequent users spent more than 10 straight hours at the computer several times a week (32, 5, 8%) and reported more relationship problems with peers (38, 22, 21%), truancy at least once a week (11, 6, 5%), obesity (13, 3, 3%), use of oral tobacco (36, 29, 20%), and use of alcohol (77, 70, 52%) versus average and nonfrequent users. One third of frequent users watched more pornography than they actually wanted. There were no differences between the groups regarding physical and psychological self-rated health.
The boys, defined as frequent users of pornography, were more sexually experienced, spent more time at the computer, and reported an unhealthier lifestyle compared with average and nonfrequent users. No differences regarding self-rated health were detected even though obesity was twice as common among frequent users.
The increase in exposure to sexually explicit material has been cited as a significant factor influencing adolescent sexuality and health. Concern about the negative impact of this material is increasingly prominent within policy, professional groups, and the media. Little research, however, has been conducted within this area. This article presents findings from my research, which is located at the intersection of public health, sociology, media and cultural studies. It explores young people's perspectives of sexuality, sexual identity and health within the context of sexualized culture and examines how young people discuss these issues, providing a critical account of young people's engagement with, and experiences of, sexualized culture as ‘agents’ in their own right. My findings are set against historical debates about the nature and impact of sexualized culture and the development of sexual health policy in the United Kingdom.
Using qualitative content analysis from the written comments of 404 primarily heterosexual college students, we examined (1) their expectations for pornography use while married or in a committed long-term relationship and (2) variations by gender. Four prominent groups emerged. A majority of men (70.8 %) and almost half of women (45.5 %) reported circumstances (alone or with their partners) wherein pornography use was acceptable in a relationship and several conditions for, and consequences associated with, such use also emerged. Another group (22.3 % men; 26.2 % women) viewed pornography use as unacceptable because of being in a committed relationship whereas a third group (5.4 % men; 12.9 % women) reported that pornography use was unacceptable in any context or circumstance. A final group emerged of a few women (10.4 %) who stated that a partner's use of pornography was acceptable, but they did not expect to use it personally. Implications for relationship education among emerging adults and future research on pornography use within the context of romantic relationships are discussed.
Pornography is one of the most sought-after topics on the Internet, and is easily available for anyone, including children and adolescents. At youth centres, nurse-midwives have noticed that young people have different kinds of questions about sexual practices compared with a few years ago. The aim of this study was to gain an understanding of thoughts and reflections about pornography consumption, and its possible influence on sexual practices, among young women and men. The staff at a youth centre in a city in central Sweden asked the visitors if they had seen pornography and if they wanted to be interviewed about their experiences. Ten young women and eight men, aged 16–23 years, participated. In-depth interviews were performed and open-ended questions about pornography and sexuality were posed. The interviews were tape-recorded and transcribed verbatim. Data were analysed according to grounded theory. The core category ‘Living with the current sexual norm’ depicted how pornography created sexual expectations and demands, for instance, to perform certain sexual acts. The informants expressed contradictory feelings towards pornography and felt that sexuality was separated from intimacy. A moral attitude was described and examples of stereotypic gender roles were given. To deal with the current sexual norm, informants had different individual handling strategies and attitudes to pornography, namely liberal, normalization, distance, feminist or conservative. Limitations of this study were the small sample size and that results from a qualitative research study cannot be generalized. The results contribute to an understanding of how pornographic material can influence young peoples’ thoughts, reflections and sexual behaviour. This indicates the importance, for personnel at youth centres and schools, to discuss sexual behaviour and how sexuality is portrayed in pornographic material with young people.
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, 199325.
Linz , D. , &
Malamuth , N. ( 1993 ). Pornography . Newbury Park , CA : Sage . [CrossRef]View all references) 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 consumption was associated with having more sexual partners and engaging in paid sex behavior. Additional longitudinal and experimental research is needed to determine the directionality of these associations and to rule out possible third-variable confounds, such as erotophilia or hypersexuality. Regarding consumption, the percentage of adult U.S. males who consume pornography appears to have increased only slightly over time.
This descriptive study of first year university students, utilising a survey questionnaire, explored sources of information including, but not limited to, the media, factors influencing decision making and young women's health seeking behaviours in terms of reproductive and sexual health. The overall aim was to add to the body of knowledge for health professionals developing appropriate programs targeting adolescents and young women. Understanding of sexual and reproductive health was variable with only approximately half of respondents demonstrating an adequate understanding. Contrary to an increasing picture of this generation as increasingly engaging in risky and potentially damaging behaviour as depicted in Female chauvinist pigs: The rise of raunch culture by Levy (2005), respondents in this study appeared for the most part to take considered decisions utilising the sources at hand, including popular magazines, while also grappling with expectations imposed by a culture that sexualises girls at younger and younger ages and depicts promiscuity as the norm. The importance of family values, particularly mothers as role models, emerged as important determinants of behaviour, while religious values were identified as important to only 15% of respondents. At the same time, pressure to engage in sex at younger and younger ages and continuing pressure to engage in unprotected and risky sex was a concern. Cynicism was expressed regarding the double standard perceived to be still operating in relation to young men's and women's sexual health. Young women in the study were forceful in identifying a need for a much better approach to education within schools directed at both sexes and one that is factual, relevant and all encompassing.
Gender differences in sexual attitudes and behaviors are typically believed to be large, yet recent evidence suggests that some gender differences in sexuality are much smaller than common knowledge would suggest. This article reviews gender differences in sexual attitudes and behaviors as reported by major meta-analyses and large datasets. In particular, this article reviews gender differences in heterosexual intercourse, masturbation, pornography use, attitudes toward premarital sex, and gender differences in same-gender sexuality. Evolutionary psychology, social cognitive learning theory, and social structural theory are explored as possible explanations for gender differences in sexuality.
Excessive or addictive Internet use can be linked to different online activities, such as Internet gaming or cybersex. The usage of Internet pornography sites is one important facet of online sexual activity. The aim of the present work was to examine potential predictors of a tendency toward cybersex addiction in terms of subjective complaints in everyday life due to online sexual activities. We focused on the subjective evaluation of Internet pornographic material with respect to sexual arousal and emotional valence, as well as on psychological symptoms as potential predictors. We examined 89 heterosexual, male participants with an experimental task assessing subjective sexual arousal and emotional valence of Internet pornographic pictures. The Internet Addiction Test (IAT) and a modified version of the IAT for online sexual activities (IATsex), as well as several further questionnaires measuring psychological symptoms and facets of personality were also administered to the participants. Results indicate that self-reported problems in daily life linked to online sexual activities were predicted by subjective sexual arousal ratings of the pornographic material, global severity of psychological symptoms, and the number of sex applications used when being on Internet sex sites in daily life, while the time spent on Internet sex sites (minutes per day) did not significantly contribute to explanation of variance in IATsex score. Personality facets were not significantly correlated with the IATsex score. The study demonstrates the important role of subjective arousal and psychological symptoms as potential correlates of development or maintenance of excessive online sexual activity.
Frequent use of pornography has not been sufficiently studied before. In a Swedish survey 2015 male students aged 18 years participated. A group of frequent users of pornography ( N = 200, 10.5%) were studied with respect to background and psychosocial correlates. The frequent users had a more positive attitude to pornography, were more often “turned on” viewing pornography and viewed more often advanced forms of pornography. Frequent use was also associated with many problem behaviours. A multiple logistic regression analysis showed that frequent users of pornography were more likely to be living in a large city, consuming alcohol more often, having greater sexual desire and had more often sold sex than other boys of the same age.
High frequent viewing of pornography may be seen as a problematic behaviour that needs more attention from both parents and teachers and also to be addressed in clinical interviews.
Concern has grown regarding possible harm to the social and psychological development of children and adolescents exposed to Internet pornography. Parents, academics and researchers have documented pornography from the supply side, assuming that its availability explains consumption satisfactorily. The current paper explored the user's dimension, probing whether pornography consumers differed from other Internet users, as well as the social characteristics of adolescent frequent pornography consumers. Data from a 2004 survey of a national representative sample of the adolescent population in Israel were used (n=998). Adolescent frequent users of the Internet for pornography were found to differ in many social characteristics from the group that used the Internet for information, social communication and entertainment. Weak ties to mainstream social institutions were characteristic of the former group but not of the latter. X-rated material consumers proved to be a distinct sub-group at risk of deviant behaviour.
A general introduction to scripting theory is offered, attempting to provide links between macrolevel considerations of sociocultural development and general theories of individual development. The scripting of behavior is examined on three distinct levels: cultural scenarios (instruction in collective meanings), interpersonal scripts (the application of specific cultural scenarios by a specific individual in a specific social context), and intrapsychic scripts (the management of desires as experienced by the individual). These concepts of the scripting of behavior are then applied to sexual behavior. Interpersonal scripts are seen as the ordering of representations of self and other that facilitate the occurrence of a sexual act; intrapsychic scripts represent the ordering of images and desires that elicit and sustain sexual arousal. Issues of stability and change in sexual scripts are then examined in terms of the changing circumstances and requirements associated with movement through the life cycle.
A novel behavioural screening questionnaire, the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ), was administered along with Rutter questionnaires to parents and teachers of 403 children drawn from dental and psychiatric clinics. Scores derived from the SDQ and Rutter questionnaires were highly correlated; parent-teacher correlations for the two sets of measures were comparable or favoured the SDQ. The two sets of measures did not differ in their ability to discriminate between psychiatric and dental clinic attenders. These preliminary findings suggest that the SDQ functions as well as the Rutter questionnaires while offering the following additional advantages: a focus on strengths as well as difficulties; better coverage of inattention, peer relationships, and prosocial behaviour; a shorter format; and a single form suitable for both parents and teachers, perhaps thereby increasing parent-teacher correlations.
The fact that there is a need for assessing depression, whether as an affect, a symptom, or a disorder is obvious by the numerous scales and inventories available and in use today.
Pornography consumption and sexual behaviour were studied, with an aim to investigate any associations. Participants were 718 students from 47 high school classes, mean age 18 years, in a medium-sized Swedish city. More men (98%) than women (72%) had ever consumed pornography. More male high consumers than low consumers or women got sexually aroused by, fantasized about, or tried to perform acts seen in a pornographic film (P<0.001). Three-quarters of the sample had had sexual intercourse, of which 71% reported contraceptive use at first intercourse. Anal intercourse was reported by 16%, with infrequent condom use (39%). Intercourse with a friend (adjusted odds ratio (adj. OR) 2.29; 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.27-4.12) was significantly associated with high consumption of pornography among men, while anal intercourse (adj. OR 1.99; 95% CI 0.95-4.16) and group sex (adj. OR 1.95; 95% CI 0.70-5.47) tended to be associated. A significant confounder was early age of sexual debut (adj. OR 1.49; 95% CI 1.18-1.88).
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