Trial reportPloS one2020
Exposure to sexually explicit media in early adolescence is related to risky sexual behavior in emerging adulthood.
Trial report in PloS one, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 32 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.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
32 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.
- Factors Associated with Sexually Explicit Internet Material Use among Adolescents: A Systematic Review.Archives of sexual behavior · 2024Pooled it
- Exposure to Pornography and Adolescent Sexual Behavior: Systematic Review.Journal of medical Internet research · 2023Pooled it
- Pornography consumption among medical students in Syria: Prevalence, patterns, and predictors.PloS one · 2026Article
- Predictors and prevalence of self-reported sexually transmitted infections among pregnant women in East Africa: evidenced by demographic and health surveys.BMC infectious diseases · 2025Article
- Risky sexual behavior and its associated factors among employees in industrial park, Northeast, Ethiopia.Scientific reports · 2025Article
- Multiple sexual partnership (MSP) and its distribution, determinants, gender differences, socio-economic inequalities and regional patterns: a nested multilevel regression analysis of a nationally representative survey among Indian youth (15-24 years).Journal of health, population, and nutrition · 2025Article
- Prevalence and associated factors of early sexual initiation among female youth in Tanzania: a nationwide survey.BMC public health · 2025Article
- Commentary on "The relationship between risky sexual behaviors and sexual health literacy and self-esteem in young women".Revista da Associacao Medica Brasileira (1992) · 2025Article
- Factors associated with sexually transmitted infections among reproductive age women in Ivory Coast: evidenced by 2021 Ivory Coast Demographic and Health Survey.Frontiers in global women's health · 2025Article
- The relationship between risky sexual behaviors and sexual health literacy and self-esteem in young women.Revista da Associacao Medica Brasileira (1992) · 2025Article
- Using an intersectional life course perspective to understand familial environment and its impact on sexuality development among Asian American sexual minority college students.Culture, health & sexuality · 2024Article
- The effect of participatory action research on HPV primary preventive measures among in-school adolescents in Benue State, Nigeria.BMC public health · 2024Article
- Article
- Learning About Sex from Different Sources: Implications for Sexual Attitudes, Sexual Knowledge, and Risky Sexual Behavior Among U.S. College Students.Archives of sexual behavior · 2024Article
- Individual and community level factors associated with sexually transmitted infections among men in Tanzania: insights from the Tanzania demographic and health survey of 2022.BMC infectious diseases · 2024Article
- Investigating child sexual abuse material availability, searches, and users on the anonymous Tor network for a public health intervention strategy.Scientific reports · 2024Article
- Time-varying associations between parental closeness, self-esteem, and sexual behavior across adolescence and emerging adulthood.Journal of research on adolescence : the official journal of the Society for Research on Adolescence · 2024Article
- Secondary School Students' Views on Sexuality and Sexual Health Education.International journal of sexual health : official journal of the World Association for Sexual Health · 2024Article
- Screen Time and Its Health Consequences in Children and Adolescents.Children (Basel, Switzerland) · 2023Review
- Associations between adolescents watching pornography and poor mental health in three Swedish surveys.European child & adolescent psychiatry · 2023Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
3 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundSexually explicit media exposure during early adolescence has been found to be associated with risky sexual behavior. However, previous study suffered from methodological issue, such as selection bias. Furthermore, little is known about the effect of multi-modality sexually explicit media exposure on risky sexual behavior, and how this relationship can be applied to non-western societies.
objectivesThis study aimed to improve upon previous studies by using instrumental variable estimation. In addition, this study also included multi-modality of sexually explicit media and three risky sexual behavior measure from a sample of Taiwanese adolescents.
methodsParticipants were recruited from a prospective longitudinal study (Taiwan Youth Project). All were in 7th grade (mean age = 13.3) when the study was initiated in 2000. Sexually explicit media exposure, including ever-exposure and number of modalities exposed to, was measured in wave 2 (8th grade). Risky sexual behavior was measured in waves 8 (mean age = 20.3) and 10 (mean age = 24.3). A two-stage least squares regression was employed, with pubertal timing as the instrumental variable.
resultsAbout 50% of participants had been exposed to sexual media content by 8th grade, from an average of one modality. Sexually explicit media exposure predicted early sexual debut, unsafe sex, and multiple sexual partners (all: p < .05). Furthermore, exposure to more media modalities increased the likelihood of risky sexual behaviors. However, only the effect on early sexual debut was gender invariant.
conclusionsExposure to sexually explicit media in early adolescence had a substantive relationship with risky sexual behavior in the emerging adulthood. Knowledge of this causal like effect provides a basis for building better preventive programs in early adolescence. One prominent way is early education on media literacy, and physicians themselves may need to be familiar with such content to initiate it.
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