Pornography Use Profiles and the Emergence of Sexual Behaviors in Adolescence

This research longitudinally explored adolescent pornography (porn) consumption and its association with sexual development in early and middle adolescence. A four-wave design with half-year intervals investigated pornography consumption and different (sexual) activities, such as masturbation, Frenc...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Archives of sexual behavior 2022-02, Vol.51 (2), p.1141-1156
Main Authors: Pirrone, Davide, Zondervan-Zwijnenburg, Mariëlle, Reitz, Ellen, van den Eijnden, Regina J. J. M., ter Bogt, Tom F. M.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Adolescent
Adolescent Behavior
Behavioral Science and Psychology
Child development
Children & youth
Erotica
Female
Humans
Male
Masturbation
Original Paper
Peer Group
Pornography & obscenity
Psychology
Public Health
Sexual Behavior
Social Sciences
Teenagers
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Summary:This research longitudinally explored adolescent pornography (porn) consumption and its association with sexual development in early and middle adolescence. A four-wave design with half-year intervals investigated pornography consumption and different (sexual) activities, such as masturbation, French kissing, petting, giving/receiving manual and oral sex, and intercourse, among 630 respondents (47.9% female, mean age 13.7 years; SD = 0.48) years at T 1). A latent growth mixture analysis of pornography consumption revealed two groups with relatively low pornography (LP; 51.8% of the boys, 91.4% of the girls) versus high pornography (HP; 48.2% of the boys; 8.6% of the girls) consumption across time. At T 1, HP boys on average watched pornography less than once a month, but more than once a year at T 1. At T 4, their average pornography use had increased to almost one to two times a week. LP boys never watched pornography at T 1. At T 4, their average pornography use was still less than once a year. At T 1, HP girls never watched pornography, but consumption increased to almost one to three times a month at T 4. Across waves of the study, LP girls (almost) never watched pornography. A discrete-time survival mixture analysis of sexual developmental patterning indicated that, compared to their LP peers, both girls and boys in the HP groups showed accelerated development of masturbation, petting, and receiving manual sex. Girls in the HP group were also more inclined to receive oral sex, whereas boys in the HP group also showed earlier and more frequent manual sex and intercourse. Thus, whereas the HP group of boys was substantially larger compared to that of girls, pornography consumption was related to accelerated development of sexual activities for both genders across early and middle adolescence. The discussion deliberates on pornography as a driving force in adolescent sexual development versus pornography as a medium of choice for sexually advanced adolescents.
ISSN:0004-0002
1573-2800
1573-2800
DOI:10.1007/s10508-021-02140-3