Are pornography users more likely to exhibit unsafe sexual behaviors?
Key points
- Sexual risk behaviors such as casual sex, lack of condom use, and a high number of sexual partners have been linked to poor health outcomes, including an increased incidence of sexually transmitted infections.
- Cyberpsychology, Behavior, and Social Networking is an authoritative peer-reviewed journal published monthly online with Open Access options and in print that explores the psychological and social issues surrounding the Internet and interactive technologies, plus cybertherapy and rehabilitation.
- Its biotechnology trade magazine, Genetic Engineering & Biotechnology News (GEN), was the first in its field and is today the industry's most widely read publication worldwide.
- Blaszczynski, University of Sydney and Curtin University, Australia, report an association between pornography use and indicators of increased sexual risk such as unsafe safe practices and more sexual partners, with similar findings for Internet pornography and unspecific pornography sources.
Sexual risk behaviors such as casual sex, lack of condom use, and a high number of sexual partners have been linked to poor health outcomes, including an increased incidence of sexually transmitted infections. A systematic review of published studies that determined whether a relationship exists between pornography consumption and increased sexual risk behaviors in adults is presented in Cyberpsychology, Behavior, and Social Networking, a peer-reviewed journal from Mary Ann Liebert, Inc., publishers. The article is available free on the Cyberpsychology, Behavior, and Social Networking website until February 27, 2015.
E.L. Harkness, B.M. Mullan, and A. Blaszczynski, University of Sydney and Curtin University, Australia, report an association between pornography use and indicators of increased sexual risk such as unsafe safe practices and more sexual partners, with similar findings for Internet pornography and unspecific pornography sources. In the article "Association Between Pornography Use and Sexual Risk Behaviors in Adult Consumers: A Systematic Review," the authors discuss the potential value of including "porn literacy" information in sexual health education and prevention strategies, or targeting certain pornography users for sexual health interventions.
"This review has uncovered a need for methodological improvements in this area of research," says Editor-in-Chief Brenda K. Wiederhold, PhD, MBA, BCB, BCN, Interactive Media Institute, San Diego, California and Virtual Reality Medical Institute, Brussels, Belgium. "Many findings in the studies, for example, may not be generalizable since they are done on college students."
About the Journal
Cyberpsychology, Behavior, and Social Networking is an authoritative peer-reviewed journal published monthly online with Open Access options and in print that explores the psychological and social issues surrounding the Internet and interactive technologies, plus cybertherapy and rehabilitation. Complete tables of contents and a sample issue may be viewed on the Cyberpsychology, Behavior, and Social Networking website.
About the Publisher
Mary Ann Liebert, Inc., publishers is a privately held, fully integrated media company known for establishing authoritative peer-reviewed journals in many promising areas of science and biomedical research, including Games for Health Journal, Telemedicine and e-Health, and Journal of Child and Adolescent Psychopharmacology. Its biotechnology trade magazine, Genetic Engineering & Biotechnology News (GEN), was the first in its field and is today the industry's most widely read publication worldwide. A complete list of the firm's 80 journals, books, and newsmagazines is available on the Mary Ann Liebert, Inc., publishers website.
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Kathryn Ryan
kryan@liebertpub.com914-740-2100
Written and revised by
Andrey Nailor, M.D.
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