Adolescents and Pornography: A Review of 20 Years of Research

Figures & data

Table 1. Operationalization and Prevalence of Adolescents’ Pornography Use (Unintentional, Intentional, Any) (Only Studies That Reported Prevalence)

Author(s), Year Published, Country	Operationalization of Pornography Use	Prevalence Unintentional	Prevalence Intentional	Prevalence Any
Cowan & Campbell, 1995, United States	Use of pornographic video (a) ever and (b) how often			(a) 83% boys, 48% girls; (b) 30% boys, 10% girls at least once a month
Lo et al., 1999, Taiwan	Pornography use on computers and print media at least once or twice a year			23% (computers) to 46% (porn comics)
Kim, 2001, Korea	Use of pornographic film on Internet			43%
Mitchell et al., 2003, United States	Exposure to Internet pornography	25%
Lo & Wei, 2005, Taiwan	Use of Internet pornography at least once or twice a year			38%
Ybarra & Mitchell, 2005, United States	Use of pornography on (a) Internet or (b) in traditional media in previous year		(a) 8%; (b) 7%
Bonino et al., 2006, Italy	Use of pornography in comics/magazines or films/videos in past six months			36%
Peter & Valkenburg, 2006a, Netherlands	Use of Internet pornography in past six months		55% (71% boys; 40% girls)
Flood, 2007, Australia	Exposure to Internet pornography	84% boys; 60% girls	38% boys; 2% girls
Mitchell et al., 2007, United States	Exposure to Internet pornography in past year	10- to 12-year-olds: 19%; 13- to 15-year-olds: 35%; 16- to 17-year-olds: 44%
Wolak et al., 2007, United States	Exposure to Internet pornography in past year	66%		34%
Peter & Valkenburg, 2008b, Netherlands	Use of Internet pornography in past six months (here: pictures with people having sex)		28% boys; 3% girls
Brown & L’Engle, 2009, United States	Use of sexually explicit media (X-rated movies, erotic and pornographic magazines, pictures of naked people on computer)			53% boys; 28% girls
Mesch, 2009; Mesch & Haman, 2009, Israel	Use of Internet pornography		16% [15%] (very) frequent use 2001 [2004]
Odeyemi et al., 2009, Nigeria	Watching pornographic films			36% girls
Skoog et al., 2009, Sweden	Downloading and watching Internet pornography (boys only)		18%
Tsitsika et al., 2009, Greece	Use of Internet pornography in past month			24%
Bleakley, Hennessy, & Fishbein, 2011, United States	Seeking pornography from Internet sites		26% (40% boys; 13% girls)
Häggström-Nordin, Borneskog, Eriksson,& Tydén, 2011, Sweden	Reading or watching pornography (ever)			95% boys; 50% girls
Hasking et al., 2011, Australia	Purchased pornographic material under age 18			16% (30% boys; 4% girls)
Kim, 2011, Korea	Viewing pornography			47%
Luder et al., 2011, Switzerland	Deliberate and unwanted use of Internet pornography in past 30 days	47% boys; 35% girls	29% boys; 1% girls
Peter & Valkenburg, 2011a, Netherlands	Use of Internet pornography in past six months (here: pornographic videos)		20%
Tsaliki, 2011, Greece	Use of pornography	44%/28% 15-18 year-old boys/girls; 40%/27% of 10-14 year-oldboys/girls	57%/11% of 15-18 year-old boys/girls; 13%/4% of 10-14 year-old boys/girls
Ybarra et al., 2011, United States	Use of (violent) pornography in past 12 months		Pornography: 19% (T1), 27% (T2), 22% (T3); violent pornography (averages): 1% magazines; 1% online; 3% movies
Jones et al., 2012, United States	Unwanted exposure to Internet pornography	2000: 35%; 2005: 34%; 2010: 23%
Shek & Ma, 2012a, Hong Kong	Pornography use (Internet and traditional media, such as rental movies, magazines) in past year			< 7%
Shek & Ma, 2012b, Hong Kong	Pornography use (Internet and traditional media, such as rental movies, magazines) in past year			< 12%
To et al., 2012, Hong Kong	Use of sexually explicit online material past year			44%
Weber et al., 2012, Germany	Exposure to pornographic video clip or film (a) ever and (b) in past six months			(a) 98% boys, 81% girls; (b) 93% boys, 52% girls
Chen et al., 2013, Taiwan	Exposure to Internet pornography	41%	59%	71%
Dong et al., 2013, China	Use of pornography			6%
Hardy et al., 2013, United States	Exposure to pornography (ever)	68%	37%
Kadri, Benjelloun, Kendili, Khoubila, & Moussaoui, 2013, Morocco	Use of Internet pornography			47% boys; 18% girls
Ma & Shek, 2013, Hong Kong	Pornography use (Internet and traditional media) in past year			< 15%
Mattebo, Tyden, et al., 2013, Sweden	Frequent use of pornography (i.e., at least a few times/month)			10%
Vandenbosch & Eggermont, 2013b, Belgium	Use of Internet pornography in past six months		46%
Bogale & Seme, 2014, Ethiopia	Watched pornographic movies or read pornographic magazines (ever)			52%
Cheng et al., 2014, Taiwan	Visited pornographic Web sites (ever)			25%
Manaf et al., 2014, Malaysia	Reading and watching pornographic material			25%
Ševčíková & Daneback, 2014, Czech Republic	Use of Internet pornography in past six months (individual/ collective)			57%
Vanden Abeele et al., 2014, Belgium	Mobile pornography use			9%
Beyens et al., 2015, Belgium	Use of Internet pornography in past six months		43%
Lopez et al., 2015, Cambodia	Pornography use			11%: 20% boys; 2% girls

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Ybarra, M. L., & Mitchell, K. J. (2005). Exposure to Internet pornography among children and adolescents: A national survey. CyberPsychology and Behavior, 8(5), 473–486. doi:10.1089/cpb.2005.8.473

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Bonino, S., Ciairano, S., Rabaglietti, E., & Cattelino, E. (2006). Use of pornography and self-reported engagement in sexual violence among adolescents. European Journal of Developmental Psychology, 3(3), 265–288. doi:10.1080/17405620600562359

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