SynthesisJournal of medical Internet research2023
Exposure to Pornography and Adolescent Sexual Behavior: Systematic Review.
Synthesis in Journal of medical Internet research, 2023. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 23 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
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
23 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.
- Prevalence and Factors Associated With Risky Sexual Behaviors Among Young People in Ethiopia: Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.Inquiry : a journal of medical care organization, provision and financingPooled it
- Pornography use and its association with risk taking sexual behaviours among Irish adolescents.Public health in practice (Oxford, England) · 2026Article
- A Timely Exploratory Study of Young Adults' Psychosexual Responses to the UK's New Age Verification Law on Online Pornography.Journal of youth and adolescence · 2026Article
- Young People's Perspectives on Age Verification for Online Pornography in Australia: Cross-Sectional Online Survey.Journal of medical Internet research · 2026Article
- Epidemiological Features and Temporal Trends of Five Common Sexually Transmitted Infections Excluding HIV, 1990-2021: Findings From the Global Burden of Disease Study.Journal of medical virology · 2026Article
- Compulsive sexual behavior disorder (CSBD) and problematic pornography use (PPU): A comprehensive, interdisciplinary, and expert-informed narrative review with suggested future directions.Journal of behavioral addictions · 2026Review
- Age-Period-Cohort analysis of gonorrhea surveillance data in Eastern China from 2005 to 2024.BMC infectious diseases · 2026Article
- High-frequency cyber-pornography exposure and gender as influencing factors in adult problematic pornography use following minor-onset viewing.Frontiers in psychiatry · 2026Article
- Pornography Use Habits of Sexually and Non-Sexually Delinquent Youth.Archives of sexual behavior · 2026Article
- Epidemiological trends of reported syphilis incidence in Xihu district, Hangzhou, China, 2005-2025.Frontiers in epidemiology · 2026Article
- Age assurance for online sexual content: applying the health policy triangle to UK early signals and transferable safeguards for sub-Saharan Africa.Frontiers in public health · 2026Article
- Association between Chinese youth's sources of sexual knowledge and sexual and reproductive health: a mediation analysis of sexual knowledge level.Sexual and reproductive health matters · 2025Article
- Visual illusion in male self-assessment of penile dimensions: a clinical study on penile length perception bias between flaccid and erect states.Sexual medicine · 2025Article
- Association between smartphone overdependence and sexual behavior in adolescents: a secondary data analysis of the 19th Youth Health Behavior Survey.Child health nursing research · 2025Article
- Validation of the Pornography Actors' Condom Use Attitudes Questionnaire.Archives of sexual behavior · 2025Article
- Adolescents, Pornography Use, and Problematic Pornography Use: A Rapid Systematic Review of Longitudinal Studies.Journal of the Korean Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry · 2025Article
- Analysis of the trend of notifiable sexually transmitted infections in China between 2006-22.Journal of global health · 2025Article
- Age at First Sexual Intercourse and Multiple Sexual Partnership Among Adolescent Girls and Young Women in Sub-Saharan Africa: A Cross-Sectional Study.Health science reports · 2025Article
- Sex differences in problematic pornography use among adolescents: a network analysis.BMC psychology · 2025Article
- Pornography Use Among Adults in Britain: A Qualitative Study of Patterns of Use, Motivations, and Stigma Management Strategies.Archives of sexual behavior · 2025Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
5 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundFormative experiences in adolescence lay the foundation for healthy and pleasurable romantic and sexual relationships. Exposure to pornography may affect these experiences.
objectiveWe aimed to synthesize evidence published in the past decade on the relationship between exposure to pornography and sexual behavior (earlier age of first sex [<16 years], condomless sex, past-year multiple partners [>1], lifetime multiple partners [>1], group sex, sexual aggression including forced sex, paid sex, teenage pregnancy, and history of sexually transmitted infection) in adolescents aged between 10 and 19 years.
methodsWe identified 19 eligible studies by searching MEDLINE, PsycINFO, Cochrane, CINAHL, Embase, and Web of Science databases from January 2010 to November 2022.
resultsOut of 8 studies that assessed earlier age of first sex, 5 studies, including 1 longitudinal study, found a statistically significant association with exposure to pornography. Given that most studies were cross-sectional or had substantial limitations, causal inference could not be made. Also, exposure to pornography was not measured consistently. The evidence was conflicting or insufficient to draw any conclusions regarding other outcomes.
conclusionsMore quantitative research is needed to elucidate the association between pornography exposure and sexual behavior, and sex education should adopt evidence-based approaches to minimize the potential harms from pornography.
trial registrationPROSPERO International Prospective Register of Systematic Reviews CRD42021227390; https://www.crd.york.ac.uk/prospero/display_record.php?RecordID=227390.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.