Prospective associations between pornography viewing and sexual aggression among adolescents
Abstract
Adolescence is a critical period for sexuality development; this study examined prospective associations between pornography use and sexual aggression using a longitudinal study of middle and high school students surveyed five times across 3 years (mean age = 13.7 years at baseline; 53.2% female; 76.5% White; 21.0% Native American; 88.9% heterosexual). Across waves, 15.7%–29.0% of adolescents had viewed pornography in the past 6 months. Results indicated significant, reciprocal associations between pornography and sexual harassment perpetration that were stronger for male adolescents, and some significant associations between pornography use and subsequent sexual assault perpetration. Findings underscore the need to consider multiple theories of the link between pornography viewing and aggression and need for media literacy sexual education beginning in middle school.
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Adolescent pornography consumption can influence adolescent sexual violence, with this tendency heightened when the material is violent.
“Adolescent pornography consumption can influence adolescent sexual violence (Rostad, GittinsStone, Huntington, et al., 2019; Waterman, Wesche, Morris, Edwards, & Banyard, 2022; Wright, Tokunaga, & Kraus, 2016; Ybarra, Mitchell, Hamburger, Diener-West, & Leaf, 2011; Ybarra & Thompson, 2018), with this tendency heightened when the material is violent (e.g., Ybarra et al., 2011).”
From Child sexual abuse by different classes and types of perpetrator: Prevalence and trends from an Australian national survey (2024) · cites this paper as Waterman, Wesche, Morris, Edwards, & Banyard, 2022
Cites
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Mathews, B., Finkelhor, D., Pacella, R., Scott, J. G., Higgins, D. J., Meinck, F., Erskine, H. E., Thomas, H. J., Lawrence, D., Malacova, E., et al. (2024) · Child Abuse & Neglect · doi:10.1016/j.chiabu.2023.106562 · Cited by 85 · see citing works
- Authors
- Waterman, E. A., Wesche, R., Morris, G., Edwards, K. M., & Banyard, V. L.
- Affiliations
- Bennington College (US)
- Virginia Tech (US)
- University of Nebraska–Lincoln (US)
- Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey (US)
- Corresponding author
- Waterman, Emily A.
- Venue
- Journal of Research on Adolescence
- Publisher
- Wiley
- Published
- 2022-03-16
- Volume
- 32
- Issue
- 4
- Pages
- 1612-1625
- ISSN
- 1050-8392 (ISSN-L)
- 1532-7795
- OpenAlex
- W4220740400
- Cited by
- 32
- References
- 4
- Citations by year
- 2026: 7 · 2025: 10 · 2024: 5 · 2023: 7 · 2022: 3
- FWCI
- 5.71
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Journal of Research on Adolescence (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Funders
- Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (U01‐CEO02838)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Sexuality, Behavior, and Technology
- Social Sciences › Gender Studies › Sexual Assault and Victimization Studies
- Health Sciences › Health Professions › General Health Professions › Adolescent Sexual and Reproductive Health
- Keywords
- pornography viewing, sexual aggression, sexual assault perpetration, adolescents, bidirectional relationship, gender differences, media literacy, sex education, psychosexual development
- MeSH terms
- Adolescent, Aggression, Erotica, Female, Humans, Longitudinal Studies, Male, Sexual Harassment, Heterosexuality
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