- NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Some teens who watch television
programs with high sexual content appear to engage in sexual
behaviors more often than those who watch other types of TV
programs, according to new research.
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- Although the association was not very strong, Dr. Cheryl L.
Somers and a colleague at Wayne State University in Detroit,
Michigan found the link between sex and sexy TV was more solid
within certain groups, including Hispanic-American teens.
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- But does sex on television influence teens' behaviors, or are
sexual adolescents more attracted to sexy shows?
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- Unfortunately, this study only connects the two behaviors and
cannot explain which influences which, Somers told Reuters Health.
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- "The question is: are the kids more sexual first, and drawn
to the media?" she asked.
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- The study results are based on surveys of 672 US teens in grades
9 through 12. The survey asked teens about the types of programs
they watch and their sexual behaviors, including age of first
intercourse, number of sexual partners and frequency of dating.
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- Somers and her co-author, Joshua Tynan, determined the sexual
nature of different television shows by asking 114 undergraduate
students to grade the programs according to the amount of sexual
dialogue and content they contained. The highest rated -- or most
sexual -- shows included HBO's Sex and the City, MTV's Undressed,
The Man Show, and Howard Stern.
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- The investigators presented their findings at the recent annual
meeting of the Society for Research on Adolescence held in New
Orleans, Louisiana.
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- Overall, Somers and Tynan found that teens who watched sexier
shows tended to engage in sexual behaviors more frequently than
those who watched less sex on TV. The relationship appeared
strongest in Hispanic-American teens.
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- Hispanic-American girls who watched sexier TV programs reported
an earlier age at first intercourse and Hispanic-American boys who
were frequent sexy TV watchers engaged in more sexual behaviors
than viewers of TV with less explicit content. The
Hispanic-American teens surveyed tended to be of low socioeconomic
status and lived in urban areas.
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- Somers found that among white, suburban middle-class teens,
girls who watched sexier television shows were more likely than
others to have more sexual partners, but frequent sex-watching in
boys was linked to the opposite finding: fewer sexual partners.
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- "Boys are watching in place of acting, and girls are
watching and acting," she said.
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- However, the results may not be true for all teens. For example,
there was no link between sexual behavior and TV watching among
African-American males, the team found.
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- Although it is not clear which came first--the behavior or the
TV watching--parents may want to pay attention to what teens are
tuning in to, Somers said. For example, parents shouldn't
necessarily restrict television, but should explain to teens how
the media can influence self-esteem, she said, and never shy away
from talking to teens about sex.
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- "Biologically, their bodies and brains are ready for
sex," Somers said. "If parents don't talk about these
things to kids, where are they going to get it?" she added.
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