Adolescent Sex and the Media

Paper Summary:

This paper discusses how media critics point to adolescents' exposure to "sexy" television and popular music, as a cause for early sexual activity. Developmental transitions lead to increased information seeking, and developmental tasks force adolescents to find information sources other than their parents, implying a link between sexy media and adolescent development. It analyzes some articles which found that the three most prevalent research issues (representing nearly half of all articles) were problem behaviors, sexuality, and values. These studies concluded that adolescents were ill-equipped to face the increasing opportunities for sexual contact, because they lacked sufficient decision-making skills and sources of information.
Adolescent Sexuality
Life Tasks
Mass Media
Media Content
Media Use Patterns
Theoretical Frameworks
Media Effects
Discussion
Toward Improving Models
Conclusion

From the Paper:

"Increasingly earlier physical development offers a possible explanation as to why adolescents seem to do things (e.g., engage in sexual activity) at a younger age than their parents. The average age of menarche is currently 12-13 years in the U.S., whereas 150 years ago it took place at age 16 (Hamburg, 1992). Perhaps the most important aspect of this trend is the discrepancy between physical and social development. Put another way, adolescent bodies mature before cognitive development and emotional maturity are far along (Hamburg, 1992). Anne Rice's (1987) fictional Belinda expresses the plight of the American adolescent--physically mature, but legally a child."

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