title: Young people, pornography, and sexuality: sources and attitudes.
abstract: The purpose of this study was to investigate the use of and attitudes among young people toward pornography and their sources of information about sexuality. Eight hundred and seventy-six young people ages 15-25 years (555 females and 321 males) who visited a youth center in Sweden for a period of 1 year answered a questionnaire about their use of pornography, their attitudes toward pornography, and sources of information about sexuality. Although most had seen pornographic movies, the youngest boys reported viewing the most pornography. The male participants reported that the most common reason they viewed pornography was to get aroused and to masturbate, whereas the female participants stated that they viewed pornography out of curiosity. The most frequent source of information about sexuality was peers. These results illustrate the importance of sex education to give factual information about sexuality and to counteract the messages about sexuality presented in pornography.
authors.affiliation: Alingsås Hospital, Alingsås, Sweden.
authors.forename: Gudrun
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Wallmyr
authors.forename: Catharina
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Welin
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000294:Adolescent Behavior / Q000523:psychology*; D000367:Age Factors; D001294:Attitude to Health; D004882:Erotica / Q000523:psychology*; D005106:Exploratory Behavior; D005260:Female; D007722:Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice; D006801:Humans; D020407:Internet; D008297:Male; D009040:Motion Pictures; D009042:Motivation; D015404:Nursing Methodology Research; D010379:Peer Group; D010506:Periodicals as Topic; D000297:Psychology, Adolescent; D012736:Sex Education / Q000379:methods; D012737:Sex Factors; D012725:Sexual Behavior / Q000523:psychology; D019529:Sexuality / Q000523:psychology*; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D013548:Sweden; D013690:Television