Abstract
Online technologies could play an important role in the sexual development of adolescents as they watch more pornography than before. Pornography may relate to adolescents’ perceptions of their bodies, especially among those identifying as a sexual and/or gender minority (SGM) as they have an increased risk of body image concerns compared to their heterosexual, cisgender (HC) peers. The present study examined the cross-sectional and longitudinal associations over 3 years between adolescents’ pornography use frequency and body appreciation, considering potential gender and sexual orientation-based differences. Results from linear univariate and parallel processes latent growth curve models with a multi-group approach among 2904 adolescents (MageT1 = 14.5 years, SD = 0.61; 51.4% girls, 16.3% sexual minority) demonstrated that HC and SGM girls’ body appreciation slightly decreased over time. Moreover, HC boys, HC girls and SGM girls’ pornography use frequency slightly increased over time. Cross-sectionally, greater pornography use frequency was associated with lower levels of body appreciation in HC girls and SGM boys, with a small effect size. However, longitudinally, pornography use frequency and body appreciation were not related to each other in either group. Our findings support that pornography use, in the short term, is negatively associated with adolescents’ body appreciation, although these associations might not hold in the long term. Adolescents may be more critical of body ideals represented in pornography as they learn to think with more discernment about the pornographic depictions of bodies and sexuality.
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Notes
In Québec, adolescents can provide their own informed consent from age 14. Not relying on parental consent can ensure the safety of students involved in the study, and can prevent sampling biases that may distort the results.
During Time 1, we were in the processes of the data collection at one school when the COVID-19 pandemic occurred. Since the data collection was not finished in this school by the time that the pandemic started, 89 participants were contacted online. Out of 89 participants, only 7 completed the online questionnaire.
It was not possible to add masturbation frequency to the model as a control variable due to multicollinearity. However, we reported descriptive statistics and correlations between masturbation frequency and other study variables in Table 3 for complete transparency.
It was not possible to add masturbation frequency to the model as a control variable due to multicollinearity. However, we reported descriptive statistics and correlations between masturbation frequency and other study variables in Table 3 for complete transparency.
It was not possible to add masturbation frequency to the model as a control variable due to multicollinearity. However, we reported descriptive statistics and correlations between masturbation frequency and other study variables in Table 3 for complete transparency.
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Acknowledgements
The authors would like to thank Mylène Desrosiers and Camélia Dubois for their assistance with data collection.
Funding
This work was supported by a grant from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research awarded to S. Bergeron and J. Dion and a doctoral fellowship from the Fonds de recherche du Québec, Société et Culture awarded to M-M. Paquette. B. Bőthe was supported by the Banting Postdoctoral Fellowship (Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council, SSHRC).
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M-MP contributed to the study’s conception and design, contributed to data collection, and drafted the manuscript; BB contributed to the study conception and design; performed the statistical analysis, and helped to draft and review the manuscript; JD conceived the study and obtained funding, provided material resources, participated in the design and coordination of the study, and helped to review the manuscript; AG contributed to data collection and helped to review the manuscript; SB conceived the study and obtained funding, provided material resources, participated in its design and coordination, helped to draft as well as review the manuscript, and offered supervision. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.
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Paquette, MM., Bőthe, B., Dion, J. et al. Can I Love My Body Even if It Doesn’t Look Like the Porn Stars’? Longitudinal Associations Between Pornography Use Frequency and Body Appreciation in a Diverse Sample of Adolescents. Arch Sex Behav (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10508-023-02679-3
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10508-023-02679-3