Project

Sexual Well-being of Young People in times of widespread Pornography usE

Code
S000125N
Duration
01 October 2024 → 30 September 2028
Funding
Research Foundation - Flanders (FWO)
Other information
Research disciplines
  • Social sciences
    • Developmental psychology and aging not elsewhere classified
    • Other media and communications not elsewhere classified
  • Medical and health sciences
    • Urology and nephrology not elsewhere classified
    • Preventive medicine
    • Public health sciences not elsewhere classified
Keywords
youth sexual health pornography sexual development sexual (dys)function
 
Project description

Since the rise of freely accessible pornographic streaming websites, porn consumption (PC) has become normative and widespread across most parts of the world. The rate of teenagers being exposed to pornography before the age of 13 has tripled over the last decade. The majority of young men masturbate several times a week (and even daily) with the help of pornography. PC can have a positive impact on body satisfaction, self- exploration and self-esteem but little evidence about the effects of PC on sexual development and later wellbeing is available. However, some negative (not necessarily proven ) information about pornography created a moral panic in several societies. The Flemish child help line receives regular calls of young people having difficulty to deal with porn-related issues. Flemish students expressed the need for information and education about pornography related matters as early as possible. Care-providers see an important increase in young people consulting with (self-perceived porn induced) sexual dysfunctions. Our discussions with young people of diverse backgrounds made clear they need and want help in navigating the sexual explicit media they consume, especially in contexts where teachers and parents find it difficult to communicate about this. Further, in order to understand why some AYA’s struggle, we further want to understand the impact of pornography consumption (or sudden abstinence from) in relation to young peoples’ SWb in health care contexts. Our multidisciplinary multistakeholder project on sexual wellbeing (SWb) of Adolescents and Young Adults (AYA) in the ethnically and sexually diverse society of Flanders will advance the knowledge in this polarized field. Given the increasing uptake of PC in our diverse society it’s time that these issues are studied thoroughly and results implemented in lesson plans and applications in order to improve the SWb of AYA.