Exposure to semi-explicit sexual television content is related to adolescents' reduced fear of AIDS.
OBJECTIVE
To investigate the relationship between adolescents' frequency of watching semi-explicit sexual television content and their fear of getting AIDS.


METHODS
A longitudinal cohort study was conducted to test whether fourth grade students (N = 733) who regularly watched sexually semi-explicit content at baseline were less likely to be afraid of getting AIDS one year later at follow-up.


RESULTS
Regression analyses indicated that adolescents who were frequently exposed to semi-explicit sexual TV content at baseline were less likely to be fearful about getting AIDS one year later.


CONCLUSIONS
Watching semi-explicit television is related to reduced fear of getting AIDS.
Lemal
Marijke
M
School for Mass Communication Research, Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, Leuven, Belgium. marijke.lemal@soc.kuleuven.be
Van den Bulck
Jan
J
D000163:Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome / Q000517:prevention & control* / Q000523:psychology*; D000293:Adolescent; D000294:Adolescent Behavior / Q000523:psychology*; D001294:Attitude to Health; D001530:Belgium / Q000453:epidemiology; D015331:Cohort Studies; D005239:Fear / Q000523:psychology; D005260:Female; D007722:Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice; D006801:Humans; D007398:Interpersonal Relations; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D008297:Male; D010565:Persuasive Communication; D012044:Regression Analysis; D012737:Sex Factors; D013334:Students / Q000523:psychology* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D013690:Television / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*