Two thirds of all television shows contain sexual content, and rarely do these shows make reference to sexual responsibility issues such as HIV, other STDs, and pregnancy. Our recent work indicates that exposure to these portrayals is prospectively related to intercourse initiation and advances in non-coital behavior over the course of a year. The proposed research tests the bounds of these relationships, determining whether they have implications for sexual health and formation of sexual partnerships, testing whether they are lasting and cumulative, and attempting to conceptually replicate them using experimental methods. To do so, we propose collection of a third wave of data from a national sample of 1,493 adolescents enrolled at ages 12-17 and followed to ages 15-20. Data concerning television viewing, sexual attitudes and behavior, and background factors are collected at each wave. These data are combined with findings from three state-of-the art content analyses conducted over the same period. We also propose a pair of experiments in which youth are randomly assigned to view two hours of mainstream entertainment television varying in its sexual content and the manner in which this content is portrayed. Sexual attitudes, perceived norms, and intentions will be compared across groups after viewing these programs. Results will illuminate the nature of the relationship between television sexual content and adolescent sexual behavior, as well as its consequences for sexual health and sexual partnerships. ? ? ?

Agency
National Institute of Health (NIH)
Institute
Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health & Human Development (NICHD)
Type
Research Project (R01)
Project #
5R01HD038090-06
Application #
7005839
Study Section
Behavioral and Social Science Approaches to Preventing HIV/AIDS Study Section (BSPH)
Program Officer
Newcomer, Susan
Project Start
2000-05-10
Project End
2007-11-30
Budget Start
2005-12-01
Budget End
2007-11-30
Support Year
6
Fiscal Year
2006
Total Cost
$575,094
Indirect Cost
Name
Rand Corporation
Department
Type
DUNS #
006914071
City
Santa Monica
State
CA
Country
United States
Zip Code
90401
Collins, Rebecca L; Martino, Steven C; Elliott, Marc N et al. (2011) Relationships Between Adolescent Sexual Outcomes and Exposure to Sex in Media: Robustness to Propensity-Based Analysis. Dev Psychol 47:585-591
Martino, Steven C; Collins, Rebecca L; Elliott, Marc N et al. (2009) It's better on TV: does television set teenagers up for regret following sexual initiation? Perspect Sex Reprod Health 41:92-100
Collins, Rebecca L (2008) Media multitasking: Issues posed in measuring the effects of television sexual content exposure. Commun Methods Meas 2:65-79
Martino, Steven C; Elliott, Marc N; Collins, Rebecca L et al. (2008) Virginity pledges among the willing: delays in first intercourse and consistency of condom use. J Adolesc Health 43:341-8
Martino, Steven C; Collins, Rebecca L; Elliott, Marc N et al. (2006) Exposure to degrading versus nondegrading music lyrics and sexual behavior among youth. Pediatrics 118:e430-41
Martino, Steven C; Collins, Rebecca L; Kanouse, David E et al. (2005) Social cognitive processes mediating the relationship between exposure to television's sexual content and adolescents' sexual behavior. J Pers Soc Psychol 89:914-24
Collins, Rebecca L (2005) Sex on television and its impact on american youth: background and results from the RAND Television and Adolescent Sexuality study. Child Adolesc Psychiatr Clin N Am 14:371-85, vii
Stein, Bradley D; Elliott, Marc N; Jaycox, Lisa H et al. (2004) A national longitudinal study of the psychological consequences of the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks: reactions, impairment, and help-seeking. Psychiatry 67:105-17
Collins, Rebecca L; Elliott, Marc N; Berry, Sandra H et al. (2004) Watching sex on television predicts adolescent initiation of sexual behavior. Pediatrics 114:e280-9
Collins, Rebecca L; Elliott, Marc N; Berry, Sandra H et al. (2003) Entertainment television as a healthy sex educator: the impact of condom-efficacy information in an episode of friends. Pediatrics 112:1115-21