engleski

Adolescents’ Pornography Use and Attitudes toward Condom Use: Results from a Prospective Study

Easily available online pornography prompted concerns among educational experts and the general public about its adverse effects on adolescent psychosocial and sexual development. Potential links between pornography use and risky sexual behavior, in particular unprotected sexual intercourse, occupy a central position. According to available research, attitudes toward condom use posit an important predictor of the actual condom use. However, relatively few studies have investigated the two pornography-related associations longitudinally. Informed by the social learning theory and the recently developed Acquisition, Activation, Application Model (3AM), this study explores whether adolescents’ use of pornography, which usually portrays unprotected sex, predicts attitudes toward condom use and actual condom use. Classroom-based data collection was conducted in the 2015 – 2018 period among high-school sophomores in 14 schools from Rijeka (N = 711 ; Mage at baseline = 15.81 ; SD = .52). Cross- lagged path analysis with two measurement points, spaced approximately twelve months apart, was used to assess the target associations. Controlling for psychosocial characteristics and perceived pornography realism, the baseline frequency of pornography use was not related to female adolescents’ attitudes toward condom use as well as actual condom use twelve months later. In contrast, a significant association between baseline pornography use and both outcomes was observed among male adolescents at the follow-up. This study’s findings point to the importance of comprehensive sexuality education and to the importance of recently proposed pornography literacy programs aimed to address potential pornography-related influences on male adolescents’ attitudes toward condom use and sexual risk taking.

Pornography, Adolescents, Attitudes toward Condoms, Condom Use, Longitudinal Assessment

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