Child and Youth Development
Pornography exposure and access among young Australians: a cross-sectional study
Open Access: Yes
Abstract
Objective: This article aims to explore the extent and nature of Australian young people’s pornography exposure and access.
Methods: Cross-sectional online survey of 1,985 young Australians aged 15–20 years, nationally representative of a range of demographics.
Results: Exposure to pornography was reported by 86% of male and 69% of female participants. Most exposure occurred when participants were alone and at home, regardless of gender. Young men were more likely than young women to seek pornography out and to view it frequently, with over half (54%) of male participants reporting weekly use compared with 14% of female participants. On average, boys and young men saw pornography 3.2 years before their first partnered sexual experience, and girls and young women saw it 2.0 years before theirs.
Conclusions: It is common for young people to see pornography years before their first partnered sexual experience.
Implications for public health: Unintentional and deliberate exposure to pornography is common and frequent among young people. Public health strategies among young people are necessary to address the potential harms associated with pornography use, including gender-based violence and risky sexual practices.
Relevance
Among all young people, 5.7% of young men and 4.4% of young women reported viewing pornography by age 10; 9.9% and 8.1% by age 11; 25.2% and 14.9% by age 12; 38.8% and 23.5% by age 13; 52.2% and 32.5% by age 14; and 61.2% and 42.7% by age 15, respectively.
For young people whose first exposure to pornography was unintentional (n = 776), the most common exposure method was via an internet pop-up or web search. Furthermore, “Women were 5.1 times more likely than men to select “I came across it via social media.””
The women were four times as likely as men to not view pornography because hey do not, or would not, like its depictions of relationships,” and more likely to report that they do not like, or would not like, the way pornography depicts sex.
Citation
Crabbe, M., Flood, M. & Adamas, K. (2024). Pornography exposure and access among young Australians: A cross-sectional study. Australian and New Zealand Journal of Public Health, 48(3). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.anzjph.2024.100135
