ArticlePloS one2018
Is pornography use a risk for adolescent well-being? An examination of temporal relationships in two independent panel samples.
Article in PloS one, 2018. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 21 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
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Who cites it
21 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 70 citations in OpenAlex.
- Adolescents' online pornography use and psychopathological symptoms: insights from a systematic review and meta-analysis.European child & adolescent psychiatry · 2026Pooled it
- Factors Associated with Sexually Explicit Internet Material Use among Adolescents: A Systematic Review.Archives of sexual behavior · 2024Pooled it
- Investigating the Role of Psychosocial and Values-Based Factors in Problematic Pornography Use.Archives of sexual behavior · 2026Article
- Association Between Self-Reported Pornographic Consumption Habits and Anxiety and Depression: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.Journal of clinical medicine · 2026Review
- "I Should Not Be Doing This Thing": A Qualitative Exploration of Masturbation Experiences Among Young Indian Women.International journal of sexual health : official journal of the World Association for Sexual Health · 2026Article
- Unraveling the impact of cyberporn motivations on mental health: insights from Chinese college students.BMC psychology · 2025Article
- Prospective Association of Symptoms of Depression and Anxiety with Pornography Viewing Frequency Among Young Adults.Archives of sexual behavior · 2025Article
- Predicting Pornography Use Based on Mental Health and Quality of Communication with Parents.Iranian journal of public health · 2024Article
- Influence of Smartphone Usage on development of Sexuality among Late Adolescent Boys in Health Sciences Colleges of South India.F1000Research · 2024Article
- Understanding posttraumatic stress trajectories in adolescent females: A strength-based machine learning approach examining risk and protective factors including online behaviors.Development and psychopathology · 2023Article
- Associations between adolescents watching pornography and poor mental health in three Swedish surveys.European child & adolescent psychiatry · 2023Article
- Impact of COVID-19 on adolescent sexual life and attitudes: have we considered all the possible secondary effects of the pandemic?European journal of pediatrics · 2023Review
- Exposure to Sexually Explicit Materials and Feelings after Exposure among Adolescents in Nine European Countries: The Role of Individual Factors and Social Characteristics.Archives of sexual behavior · 2023Article
- Symptoms of problematic pornography use among help-seeking male adolescents: Latent profile and network analysis.Journal of behavioral addictions · 2022Article
- The pornography use and its addiction among emerging adults in Malaysia: Perceived realism as a mediator.PloS one · 2022Article
- An observational study of Internet behaviours for adolescent females following sexual abuse.Nature human behaviour · 2022Observational
- Internet pornography exposures amongst young people in Malaysia: A cross-sectional study looking into the role of gender and perceived realism versus the actual sexual activities.Addictive behaviors reports · 2021Article
- Adolescents' Online Pornography Exposure and Its Relationship to Sociodemographic and Psychopathological Correlates: A Cross-Sectional Study in Six European Countries.Children (Basel, Switzerland) · 2021Article
- Pornographic Socialization as "Selective-Exposure": Let it Go, Let it Go II.Archives of sexual behavior · 2021Article
- Compulsive Internet Pornography Use and Mental Health: A Cross-Sectional Study in a Sample of University Students in the United States.Frontiers in psychology · 2020Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
2 authors at 2 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Cross-sectional evidence suggests that pornography use is related to lower mental well-being among adolescents but it remains unclear if changes in well-being are related to the dynamics of pornography use within this population. We examined the relationship between pornography use, subjective well-being, symptoms of depressions and anxiety, and self-esteem in two independent panel samples (N = 455; N = 858) of Croatian adolescents using cross-lagged path analysis and lagged linear mixed models. After controlling for impulsiveness and family environment-factors that are unlikely to be influenced by pornography use-earlier levels of pornography use were not significantly associated with subsequent decreases in subjective well-being across gender and panel. However, pornography use was associated with increases in both self-esteem and symptoms of depression and anxiety, albeit only among adolescent women in one of the two panels. In addition, low subjective well-being was associated with a subsequent increase in pornography use, but only in female adolescents in one panel. This study's results are not consistent with concerns about pornography use negatively contributing to male adolescents' psychological well-being, but suggest potential antagonistic links between pornography use and specific facets of mental well-being in adolescent women. Such links should be considered tentative until verified with further research.
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Registered trials
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