Teen Pregnancy Linked to Watching Sexual Content on Television
November 7, 2008
Teen Pregnancy Linked to Watching Sexual Content on Television

A new study published this week in Pediatrics, found a link between the likelihood of being involved in a teen pregnancy and exposure to a high level of sexual content viewed on television. The study, which followed more than1400 male and female teenagers for three years, built on previous research that linked watching sexual content on television with earlier onset of sexual intercourse. The study analyzed whether or not exposure to sexual content led to increased rates of becoming pregnant (for girls) or being directly involved in a resultant pregnancy (for boys). They reviewed the teens' viewing habits of specific programs, which had varying levels of sexual content. Though the amount of time spent watching television had no significant relation to pregnancy involvement, the content viewed did. Those teens grouped in the highest category (90th percentile) of exposure to sexual content were twice as likely to be involved in a pregnancy as those in the lowest exposure category (10th percentile) controlling for other known factors related to teen pregnancy. Report authors hypothesize that television may increase pregnancy risk because of both sexual acts viewed and characters' attitudes towards sexual activity -- noting that discussion of the risk of pregnancy or sexually transmitted disease occurs in only 10 – 15% of television programs including sexual content. Authors suggest parents view this type of television with their children and discuss the content viewed as a way to mitigate teen pregnancy risk.

The full text of the article is available at http://pediatrics.aappublications.org/cgi/content/full/122/5/1047
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