Estimating the Longitudinal Association Between Adolescent Sexual Behavior and Exposure to Sexual Media Content

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to estimate the association between adolescent sexual behavior and exposure to sexual media content. A three-wave, longitudinal survey sample (N = 506) of 14- to 16-year-olds at baseline is analyzed using growth curves. Growth trajectories are linear for sexual behavior but not for exposure to sexual media content. The signs of the exposure slopes are not uniformly positive: Hispanic and African American respondents show declines of exposure to sexual media content over the age range investigated here. Although changes in exposure to sex content are highly associated with changes in sexual behavior among Whites, there is little or no association between changes in these variables among Blacks.