Despite increasing interest in the implications of adolescents’ use of sexually explicit Internet material (SEIM), we still know little about the relationship between SEIM use and adolescents’ casual sexual activities. Based on a three-wave online panel survey study among Dutch adolescents (N = 1079; 53.1% boys; 93.5% with an exclusively heterosexual orientation; Mmany years = ; SD = 1.39), we found that watching SEIM predicted engagement in casual sex over time. In turn, casual sexual activities partially predicted adolescents’ use of SEIM. A two-step mediation model was tested to explain the relationship between watching SEIM and casual sex. It was partially confirmed. First, watching SEIM predicted adolescents’ perceptions of SEIM as a relevant information source from Wave 2 to Wave 3, but not from Wave 1 to Wave 2. Next, such perceived utility of SEIM was positively related to stronger instrumental attitudes toward sex and thus their views about sex as a core instrument for sexual gratification. Lastly, adolescents’ instrumental attitudes toward sex predicted adolescents’ engagement in casual sex activities consistently across waves. Partial support emerged for a reciprocal relationship between watching SEIM and perceived utility. We did not find a reverse relationship between casual sex activities and instrumental attitudes toward sex. No significant gender differences emerged.
Notes
The knowledge of three-revolution panel analysis have also been utilized in half a dozen other records of the article authors to learn the newest antecedents from SEIM explore and you may matchmaking regarding SEIM explore together with other sexual consequences. Such papers is available because of the sending an age-send towards the involved copywriter.
An additional MANOVA analysis (N = 1,467), using Pillai’s trace, was performed to document the differences between the respondents who answered “I don’t know” on at least one of the questions regarding the perceived utility of SEIM at Wave 1 and also participated in Waves 2 and 3 (N = 388) and those respondents who answered all the questions at Wave 1 and also participated in Waves 2 and 3 (N = 1079, the analytical sample of the study). The analysis included age, gender, heterosexual orientation, watching SEIM, instrumental attitudes toward sexual activities, and experience with casual sexual activities, V = .12, F(6, 1460) = , p < .001, ?p? = .12. Significant differences were found for all variables except heterosexual orientation, p = .99. Descriptive statistics showed that respondents with missing data on one of the perceived utility questions were younger, more likely to be girls, and scored lower on watching SEIM, instrumental attitudes toward sex and casual sex activities, all p < .001. These findings are in line with prior literature reporting on the characteristics of adolescents who consume SEIM (e.g., Peter Valkenburg, 2006).
The fresh new structural formula designs claimed inside the Figs. 2 and you will step 3 had been including tested having an example you to integrated the participants with destroyed study (N = 2,137). Automatic imputation are used to displace missing viewpoints inside SPSS (variation 23). Good pooled dataset of the indicate quotes of the lost studies try determined on five imputed datasets (i.age., multiple imputation, Acock, 2007).
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The results for the model that tested the reciprocal relationships between watching SEIM and casual sex were similar to the results reported in the manuscript for the sample that excluded participants with missing values (N = 1079, Fig. 2). The model, ??(202) = , p < .001, CFI = .95, RMSEA = .07 (90% CI: .071/.076), ??/df = , showed that all paths were similar to the model reported in Fig. 2.
The results for the model that tested the two-step mediation model showed a good fit, ??(833) = , p < .001, CFI = .95, RMSEA = .04 (90% CI: .043/.046), ??/df = 5.18. The results for the paths were similar to the results reported in Fig. 3, except for three paths. Exposure to SEIM at Wave 1 positively predicted perceived utility of SEIM at Wave 2, ? = .07, B = .07, SE = 0.26, p < .01 (bc 95% bt CI: .021/.130). This relationship was not significant in the model shown in Fig. 3. The path from instrumental attitudes toward sex at Wave 1 marginally significantly predicted casual sex at Wave 2 according to the bootstrapped confidence intervals, ? = .05, B = .01, SE = 0.00, p < .05 (bc 95% bt CI: ? .001/.013). This path was significant in the model in Fig. 3. In addition, the paths from engagement into casual sex at Wave 1/Wave 2 to instrumental attitudes toward sex at Wave 2/Wave 3 were significant, respectively, ? = .09, B = .67, SE = 0.17, p < .001 (bc 95% bt CI: .268/1.105), ? = .07, B = .46, SE = 0.15, p < .005 (bc 95% bt CI: .136/.815). Theses paths were not significant in the model in Fig. 3. This shows that systematic drop-out due to unfamiliarity with SEIM (see footnote 2) may influence the results. Because imputation methods have been debated (Allison, 2003), we chose to report the results without imputation in the results section.