Intentional exposure to pornography and the perpetration of sexually aggressive behavior among adolescents: A new area of child maltreatment research

Ybarra, Michele, Diener-West, Marie, Hamburger, Merle, & Leaf, Philip (2008, January).  Intentional exposure to pornography and the perpetration of sexually aggressive behavior among adolescents: A new area of child maltreatment research.  Presented at the 22nd Annual San Diego International Conference on Child and Family Maltreatment, San Diego, CA.

Summary:

This presentation analyzes data from the Growing up with Media study to explore:

1.  What is the 1-year prevalence of intentional exposure to x-rated material?

   - Overall exposure and violent exposure

   – Across a variety of media

2.  How does exposure to x-rated material (nonviolent & violent) relate to expression of sexual aggression via technology? Face-to-face?

Findings include:

-  About one in five youth report intentional exposure to x-rated material.

-  About one in twenty report intentional exposure to violent x-rated material.

-  Rates of intentional exposure are similar across movies, magazines, and the Internet.

-  Consumption of violent x-rated material by adolescents appears to be associated with significantly elevated odds of sexually aggressive behavior.

-  Consumption of violent x-rated material is associated with a greater likelihood of also reporting technology-based sexual aggression.

-  Elevated odds of in-person sexual assault also are noted for youth who consume violent x-rated material.

-  It is possible that exposure to x-rated material contributes to respondents’ sexually aggressive behavior.  It is equally possible that consumption of x-rated material is part of a more general manifestation of externalizing behaviors, inclusive of substance use and non-sexually aggressive behaviors.

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