Internet porn ‘encourages teenagers to have sex early’
Exposure to Internet pornography leads teenagers to lose their virginity at a “much younger” age, researchers have found. A peer reviewed study from the journal CyberPsychology and Behaviour revealed that males aged between 12 and 17 who regularly viewed porn had sex at an earlier stage in their lives and were more likely to initiate oral sex, apparently imitating what they had watched.
Scottish experts warned that the rise in the viewing of pornography was implicated in a variety of sexual problems - including a rise in levels of STDs and teenage pregnancies - and called for parents to be more aware of what their children were watching.
Shane Krauss, a psychologist working from Castleton State College in Vermont, surveyed hundreds of people and found that men who had watched pornography between the ages of 12 and 17 were sexually active before those who hadn’t . . .
The report is available for purchase online at the CyberPsychology and Behaviour.
Early Sexual Experiences: The Role of Internet Access and Sexually Explicit Material
Shane W. Kraus, Brenda Russell
Related:
Exposure to Internet Pornography among Children and Adolescents: A National Survey
CyberPsychology & Behavior. Oct 2005, Vol. 8, No. 5: 473-486