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Adolescents and web porn: a new era of sexuality

  • Damiano Pizzol EMAIL logo , Alessandro Bertoldo and Carlo Foresta
Published/Copyright: August 7, 2015
International Journal of Adolescent Medicine and Health
From the journal International Journal of Adolescent Medicine and Health Volume 28 Issue 2

Abstract

Background: Pornography can affect the lifestyles of adolescents, especially in terms of their sexual habits and porn consumption, and may have a significant influence on their sexual attitudes and behaviors.

Objective: The aim of this study was to understand and analyze the frequency, duration, and perception of web porn utilization by young Italians attending high school.

Materials and methods: A total of 1565 students attending the final year of high school were involved in the study, and 1492 have agreed to fill out an anonymous survey. The questions representing the content of this study were: 1) How often do you access the web? 2) How much time do you remain connected? 3) Do you connect to pornographic sites? 4) How often do you access pornographic sites? 5) How much time you spend on them? 6) How often do you masturbate? and 7) How do you rate the attendance of these sites? Statistical analysis was performed by Fischer’s test.

Results: All young people, on an almost daily basis, have access to Internet. Among those surveyed, 1163 (77.9%) of Internet users admit to the consumption of pornographic material, and of these, 93 (8%) access pornographic websites daily, 686 (59%) boys accessing these sites perceive the consumption of pornography as always stimulating, 255 (21.9%) define it as habitual, 116 (10%) report that it reduces sexual interest towards potential real-life partners, and the remaining 106 (9.1%) report a kind of addiction. In addition, 19% of overall pornography consumers report an abnormal sexual response, while the percentage rose to 25.1% among regular consumers.

Conclusion: It is necessary to educate web users, especially young users, to a safe and responsible use of the Internet and of its contents. Moreover, public education campaigns should be increased in number and frequency to help improve knowledge of Internet-related sexual issues both by adolescents and by parents.

Keywords: adolescents; sexual health; web pornography
Corresponding author: Damiano Pizzol, Department of Medicine, Section of Clinical Pathology and Centre for Human Reproduction Pathology, University of Padova, Via Gabelli 63, 35121 Padova, Italy, Phone: +39-49-8218573, Fax: +39-49-8218520, E-mail: ; and Department of Medicine, Section of Endocrinology and Center for Human Reproduction Pathology, University of Padua, Italy

Acknowledgments

The authors wish to thank Dr. Pelizzon Alessandro, of the School of Law and Justice, Southern Cross University-East Lismore NSW 2480-Australia, for his kind and careful editing.

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Received: 2015-1-7
Accepted: 2015-3-26
Published Online: 2015-8-7
Published in Print: 2016-5-1

©2016 by De Gruyter

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https://doi.org/10.1515/ijamh-2015-0003
Keywords for this article
adolescents; sexual health; web pornography

Articles in the same Issue

  1. Frontmatter
  2. Editorial
  3. Hepatitis C: is it still around?
  4. Review
  5. On the track to adulthood: the missions of the young human being, dodging the risks and gaining the tools
  6. Original Articles
  7. Cross-sectional data on alcohol and marijuana use and sexual behavior among male and female secondary school students in New Providence, The Bahamas
  8. Endothelial dysfunction and negative emotions in adolescent girls
  9. Prevalence of HIV testing and counseling and associated factors among secondary school students in Botswana
  10. Characteristics of health-promoting schools from Iranian adolescents’ point of view
  11. Determinants of sexual activities and contraceptive usage among adolescents in high schools in Ogbomoso, a semi-urban settlement in Nigeria
  12. Adolescents and web porn: a new era of sexuality
  13. Is there a correlation between body proportion and choice of profession?
  14. Prevalence and correlates of the perpetration of cyberbullying among in-school adolescents in Oyo State, Nigeria
  15. Development of a sickle cell disease readiness for transition assessment
  16. Sexual behavioral pattern, consequences and adopted solutions among senior secondary schools students in a military barracks in Nigeria
  17. Assessment of the validity of self-reported smoking status among schoolchildren in Sousse, Tunisia
  18. Case Report
  19. Tweens feel the burn: “salt and ice challenge” burns
  20. Short Communications
  21. Risky health-related behaviours among school-aged adolescents: a rational ‘consumer’ choice?
  22. Parenthood linked to new onset overweight or obesity among Chilean adolescents
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