Skip to main content
Key Specialties
Cardiology Diabetology Endocrinology Gastroenterology Geriatrics and Gerontology Gynecology and Obstetrics Hematology Infectious Disease Internal Medicine Nephrology Neurology Oncology Pediatrics Respiratory Medicine Rheumatology Surgery
Congress Coverage
2024 ACC Congress 2023 ESMO Congress 2023 EASD Congress 2023 ERS Congress 2023 ESC Congress
Clinical Collections
Advances in Alzheimer’s

Keynote webinar | Spotlight on medication adherence

LIVE: Thursday 27th June 2024, 18:00-19:30 (CEST)
Join our expert panel to discover why you need to understand the drivers of non-adherence in your patients, and how you can optimize medication adherence in your clinics to drastically improve patient outcomes.
ADVANCED SEARCH
Log in
Top
Psychiatric Quarterly
Published in: Psychiatric Quarterly 2/2017

01-06-2017 | Original Paper

Does Sexy Media Promote Teen Sex? A Meta-Analytic and Methodological Review

Authors: Christopher J. Ferguson, Rune K. L. Nielsen, Patrick M. Markey

Published in: Psychiatric Quarterly | Issue 2/2017

Login to get access

Abstract

Parents and policy makers are often concerned that sexy media (media depicting or discussing sexual encounters) may promote sexual behavior in young viewers. There has been some debate among scholars regarding whether such media promote sexual behaviors. It remains unclear to what extent sexy media is a risk factor for increased sexual behavior among youth. The current study employed a meta-analysis of 22 correlational and longitudinal studies of sexy media effects on teen sexual behavior (n = 22,172). Moderator analyses examined methodological and science culture issues such as citation bias. Results indicated the presence only of very weak effects. General media use did not correlate with sexual behaviors (r = 0.005), and sexy media use correlated only weakly with sexual behaviors (r = 0.082) once other factors had been controlled. Higher effects were seen for studies with citation bias, and lower effects when family environment is controlled. The impact of media on teen sexuality was minimal with effect sizes near to zero.
Literature
1.
Chandra A, Martino S, Miu A, et al.: Does watching sex on television predict teen pregnancy? Findings from a national longitudinal survey of youth. Pediatrics 122(5):1047–1054, 2008CrossRefPubMed
2.
Brown J, L’Engle K, Pardun C, Guo G, Kenneavy K, Jackson C: Sexy media matter: Exposure to sexual content in music, movies, television, and magazines predicts Black and White adolescents’ sexual behavior. Pediatrics 117:1018–1027, 2006CrossRefPubMed
3.
Gottfried J, Vaala S, Bleakley A, Hennessy M, Jordan A: Does the effect of exposure to TV sex on adolescent sexual behavior vary by genre? Communication Research 40(1):73–95, 2013CrossRef
4.
Steinberg L, Monahan K: Adolescents’ exposure to sexy media does not hasten the initiation of sexual intercourse. Developmental Psychology 47(2):562–576, 2011CrossRefPubMed
5.
Martino S, Collins R, Kanouse D, Elliott M, Berry S: Social cognitive processes mediating the relationship between exposure to television’s sexual content and adolescents’ sexual behavior. Journal of Personality and Social 89(6):914–924, 2005CrossRef
6.
Collins R, Martino S, Elliott M, Miu A: Relationships between adolescent sexual outcomes and exposure to sex in media: Robustness to propensity-based analysis. Developmental Psychology 47(2):585–591, 2011CrossRefPubMed
7.
Savage J, Yancey C: The effects of media violence exposure on criminal aggression: A meta-analysis. Criminal Justice and Behavior 35(6):772–791, 2008CrossRef
8.
Rosenthal R, DiMatteo M: Meta analysis: Recent developments in quantitative methods for literature reviews. Annual Review of Psychology 52:59–82, 2001CrossRefPubMed
9.
Farley J, Lehmann D, Sawyer A: Empirical marketing generalization using meta-analysis. Marketing Science 14:G36–G46, 1995CrossRef
10.
Raju N, Fralicx R, Steinhaus S: Covariance and regression slope models for studying validity generalization. Applied Psychological Measurement 10(2):195–211, 1986CrossRef
11.
Ferguson C: Pay no attention to that data behind the curtain: On angry birds, happy children, scholarly squabbles, publication bias, and why betas rule metas. Perspectives on Psychological Science 10(5):683–691, 2015CrossRefPubMed
12.
Furuya-Kanamori L, Doi SA: Angry Birds, Angry Children, and Angry Meta-Analysts: A Reanalysis. Perspectives on Psychological Science 11(3):408–414, 2016CrossRefPubMed
13.
Hennessy M, Bleakley A, Fishbein M, Jordan A: Estimating the longitudinal association between adolescent sexual behavior and exposure to sexual media content. Journal of Sex Research 46(6):586–596, 2009CrossRefPubMedPubMedCentral
14.
Bleakley A, Hennessy M, Fishbein M, Jordan A: Using the integrative model to explain how exposure to sexual media content influences adolescent sexual behavior. Health Education & Behavior 38(5):530–540, 2011CrossRef
15.
Ferguson C: Do angry birds make for angry children? A meta-analysis of video game influences on children’s and adolescents’ aggression, mental health, prosocial behavior, and academic performance. Perspectives on Psychological Science 10(5):646–666, 2015CrossRefPubMed
16.
Hunter J, Schmidt F: Methods of meta-analysis: Correcting error and bias in research findings. Thousand Oaks, Sage, 2004CrossRef
17.
Ferguson C, Brannick M: Publication bias in psychological science: Prevalence, methods for identifying and controlling, and implications for the use of meta-analyses. Psychological Methods 17(1):120–128, 2012CrossRefPubMed
18.
Ferguson C, Ivory J, Beaver K: Genetic, maternal, school, intelligence, and media use predictors of adult criminality: A longitudinal test of the catalyst model in adolescence through early adulthood. Journal of Aggression, Maltreatment & Trauma 22(5):447–460, 2013CrossRef
19.
20.
Robinson-Cimpian J: Conclusions inaccurate estimation of disparities due to mischievous responders: Several suggestions to assess conclusions. Educational Researcher 43:171–185, 2014CrossRef
Metadata
Title
Does Sexy Media Promote Teen Sex? A Meta-Analytic and Methodological Review
Authors
Christopher J. Ferguson
Rune K. L. Nielsen
Patrick M. Markey
Publication date
01-06-2017
Publisher
Springer US
Published in
Psychiatric Quarterly / Issue 2/2017
Print ISSN: 0033-2720
Electronic ISSN: 1573-6709
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1007/s11126-016-9442-2

Other articles of this Issue 2/2017

Psychiatric Quarterly 2/2017 Go to the issue

Original Paper

Connecting Mentally Ill Detainees in Large Urban Jails with Community Care

Original Paper

Understanding Patterns of Intimate Partner Abuse in Male–Male, Male–Female, and Female–Female Couples

Original Paper

Posttraumatic Stress Disorder Following Stillbirth: Trauma Characteristics, Locus of Control, Posttraumatic Cognitions

Original Paper

Psychotropic Drug Consumption and Employment Status in Time of Economic Crisis (2007–2011)

Original Paper

The Role of Intra-personal and Inter-personal Factors in Fear of Childbirth: A Preliminary Study

Original Paper

Quality of Life, Integrative Community Therapy, Family Support, and Satisfaction with Health Services Among Elderly Adults with and without Symptoms of Depression