Developing Respondent-Based Multi-Media Measures of Exposure to Sexual Content

Abstract

Despite the interest in the effects of the media on sexual behavior, there is no single method for assessing exposure to a particular type of media content (e.g., sex). This paper discusses the development of six sexual content exposure measures based on adolescents' own subjective ratings of the sexual content in titles in 4 media (i.e., television, music, magazines, videogames). We assessed the construct and criterion validity of these measures by examining the associations among each of these measures of exposure to sexual content as well as their associations with adolescents' sexual activity. Data were collected in summer 2005 through a web-based survey using a quota sample of 547 youth aged 14-16 from the Philadelphia area. Adolescents rated how often they were exposed to specific television shows, magazine titles, etc. on 4-point never to often scales. They also rated the sexual content of those titles on 4-point no sexual content to a lot of sexual content scales. Sexual behavior was measured using an ordered index of lifetime pre-coital and coital sexual activity. The strength of association between exposure to sexual content and sexual activity varied by medium and measure. Based on our findings, we recommend the use of a multiple media weighted sum measure. This measure produces findings that are consistent with those of similar studies.