Sexual Media and Childhood Well-being and Health.

Sexual content is highly prevalent in traditional media, and portrayals rarely depict the responsibilities and risks (eg, condom use, pregnancy) associated with sexual activity. Exposure to such content is linked with shifts in attitudes about sex and gender, earlier progression to sexual activity, pregnancy, and sexually transmitted infection among adolescents. However, little information is available about moderators and mediators of these effects. We also know little about digital media, their sex-related content, and their potential influence on youth. Data from a few studies of older youth indicate that sexual displays on social media sites are related to problematic beliefs and behaviors among those who post this content and among viewers. Online pornography appears to be more problematic for youth than off-line sources. Given the vast and increasing amount of time youth spend online and their developmental openness to influence, more research attention to digital sexual media is needed. Those who undertake this work should identify potential negative consequences of use and opportunities to improve adolescent sexual health through digital media. Studies of on- and off-line media in which researchers examine younger media audiences, identify processes explaining sexual media effects on behavior, and moderators of effects are needed. Such studies could be used to inform interventions to reduce negative outcomes and increase positive media effects. Policy makers should stimulate the development of such interventions, including tools to help parents identify and manage negative media influences on their children's sexual well-being and development and dissemination of innovative media literacy programs related to sexual health.

Perpetration of teen dating violence in a networked society.

Teen dating violence (TDV) is a serious form of youth violence that youth fairly commonly experience. Although youth extensively use computer-mediated communication (CMC), the epidemiology of CMC-based TDV is largely unknown. This study examined how perpetration of psychological TDV using CMC compares and relates to perpetration using longer-standing modes of communication (LSMC; e.g., face-to-face). Data from the national Growing up with Media study involving adolescents aged 14-19 collected from October 2010 to February 2011 and analyzed May 2012 are reported. Analyses focused on adolescents with a history of dating (n=615). Forty-six percent of youth daters had perpetrated psychological TDV. Of those who perpetrated in the past 12 months, 58% used only LSMC, 17% used only CMC, and 24% used both. Use of both CMC and LSMC was more likely among perpetrators who used CMC than among perpetrators who used LSMC. In addition, communication mode and type of psychological TDV behavior were separately related to frequency of perpetration. Finally, history of sexual intercourse was the only characteristic that discriminated between youth who perpetrated using different communication modes. Results suggest that perpetration of psychological TDV using CMC is prevalent and is an extension of perpetration using LSMC. Prevention should focus on preventing perpetration of LSMC-based TDV as doing so would prevent LSMC as well as CMC-based TDV.