Rates, Age, & Impact of Exposure to Pornography
Pornography Use During Adolescence: The Current State of Knowledge and Recommendations.
Open Access: Yes.
Abstract
This chapter outlines the current state of the literature on adolescents’ pornography use and sexual socialization (e.g., beliefs, attitudes, behaviors). Most adolescents have seen pornography, with over half reporting first viewing pornography prior to age 14, whether intentionally or not. In general, adolescents’ use of pornography has been associated with (1) more erroneous sexual expectations and beliefs about sexual violence, (2) sexual activity offline, including risky sexual behavior, and (3) sexual violence perpetration and victimization. Although pornography use is associated with these undesirable outcomes for adolescents, it is difficult to isolate pornography as a direct cause of these outcomes. Therefore, we suggest that more longitudinal studies that include intensive measurements of pornography use and offline behaviors are employed. Interdisciplinary research approaches that are used to study how other immersive online activities (such as gaming and social media) impact development should also be applied to the study of pornography use. We recommend that local and regional legislatures propose systematic professional development opportunities for those who provide youth services (e.g., pediatricians and social workers) and school staff to learn about contemporary digital media environments, including pornography, and how to address them with adolescents.
Relevance
Mainstream pornography that adolescents routinely access on what are known as “tube-sites” (videos streaming platforms akin to YouTube) frequently portrays sexual violence, sexual coercion, aggressive sex, “BDSM without relational context,” and incest. Rarely does pornography portray “effective sexual communication,” or consent, the use of condoms, “or caring behaviors.”
Adolescent use of pornography has been linked to erroneous beliefs about sex (e.g., most people prefer rough sex), negative sexual self-perception, lower sexual satisfaction with partners, harmful gendered perceptions, acceptance of rape myths (e.g., she asked for it), sexual objectification of women, sexual strangulation (so-called ‘choking’), abusive name calling during sex, condomless sex, sexual harassment and assault, intimate partner and dating violence (perpetration and victimization), among other harmful beliefs and behaviors.
Recommendations to address the effects of pornography include policies that “support school-based comprehensive sex education and violence prevention” that is “medically accurate,” inclusion of information about pornography in school curricula and standards [note: free programs are offered by Culture Reframed], educational opportunities for parents [note: free parent programs are offered by Culture Reframed], professional development opportunities for pediatricians, and up-to-date information for mental health providers.
Citation
Maas, M.K., Wright, P.J., Rothman, E.F., Nelson, K.M., Weigle, P., & Herbenick, D. (2025). Pornography Use During Adolescence: The Current State of Knowledge and Recommendations. In D. A. Christakis and L. Hale (Eds), Handbook of Children and Screens (pp. 341-47). Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-69362-5_47
