Sexually Explicit Internet Material and Adolescents' Sexual Attitudes and Behavior: Parallel Development and Directional Effects

• In Event: From Hook Up to Pregnancy: Sex, Sexuality, and Media

Abstract

This study combined two types of longitudinal modeling, mean-level development and cross-lagged panel modeling, in order to understand how linkages between adolescents’ use of sexually explicit internet material (SEIM) and their permissive sexual attitudes and sexual behavior unfold over time. Four-wave longitudinal data from 1,132 Dutch adolescents (Mage T1=13.95; 52.7% boys) were used. Mean-level developmental trajectories showed that boys occasionally and increasingly used SEIM, which co-occurred with increases in their permissive attitudes and their experience with sexual behavior. Cross-lagged panel models revealed unidirectional effects from boys’ SEIM use on their subsequent endorsement of permissive attitudes, but no reverse effects. Moreover, no consistent directional effects between their SEIM use and sexual behavior emerged. Girls’ SEIM use was consistently low and not longitudinally related to their decreasing permissive attitudes and increasing experience with sexual behavior. These findings demonstrate the need for gender-specific theories and research with regard to adolescents’ sexualized media use.

Authors

• Suzan Doornwaard, Utrecht U

• David S. Bickham, Boston Children's Hospital

• Michael O. Rich, Center on Media and Child Health

• Tom ter Bogt, U of Utrecht

• Regina van den Eijnden, Utrecht U