Potential Consequences of Youth Exposure to Sexually Explicit Content on the Internet

Background: Although the Internet is becoming a transforming mechanism for public health promotion and education, questions remain about its limitations. Emerging evidence indicates, for example, that a significant proportion of youth depend on sexually explicit Internet content as their “de facto sex educator” raising questions about the potential consequences of sexually explicit materials (SEM) exposure on youths' sexual health-related perceptions and behaviors.

Objective: This presentation reports a critical review of scientific studies examining the effects of exposure to sexually explicit Internet content on the sexual health-related perceptions and behaviors of youth.

Method: Eleven publications, identified via an electronic database search using keywords such as “youth,” “teen,” “sexually explicit,” “pornography,” and “Internet,” were analyzed.

Results: Attention to the potential perceptual and behavioral effects of Internet SEM exposure on youth is prominent in studies conducted outside the US. Emerging cross-sectional evidence from international youth samples reveals associations between Internet SEM exposure, permissive sexual perceptions, and enactment of risky sexual behaviors consequential to STIs. These findings are quite consistent with prior experimental and longitudinal studies undertaken with adults implicating SEM exposure as a causal determinant of sexual health-related perceptions and behaviors.

Conclusions: The potential adverse consequences of youth exposure to sexually explicit mass media content, a concern initially voiced by advocates of public health education, are illustrated within a growing body of data. Evidence from investigations undertaken with youth across culturally diverse contexts suggests that consumption of sexually explicit Internet content may be a significant determinant of sexual health-related outcomes.