Examining Relations Between Sexualizing Media Exposure and Sexting Attitudes and Behaviors among U.S. Adolescents.

Based on social cognitive processes (Bandura, 2009), sexualizing media likely provide adolescents with credible role models for their own sexualized self-presentation in other mediated contexts, such as sexting. A survey of 6,093 US adolescents was conducted (Mage = 15.27 years, SD = 1.

The body positive… or the body neutral? A content analysis of body positivity and body neutrality hashtagged videos on TikTok.

The goal of the present study was to examine how body positivity and body neutrality are presented on TikTok. Based on a grounded-theory analysis, body-positivity themes included Broadly Conceptualizing Beauty (i.e.

Birds of a feather flocking together on Instagram: How racially similar followers and followings on Instagram are linked to young women's body image.

In light of recent studies demonstrating the detrimental effects of social media use on young women's body image, we examined the racial composition of young women's Instagram followers, as well as the racial composition of the individuals in young women's followed Instagram accounts, in relation to their appearance ideals and body image. Based on social identity theory (Tajfel & Turner, 1979), we tested two main propositions. First, women who have racially similar followers and followed accounts will be more likely to internalize body ideal preferences that are relevant to their in-group (i.

Is Sexual Consent Sexy?: Investigating the Effects of a Televised Depiction of Verbal Sexual Consent on College Students' Sexual Consent Attitudes and Behavioral Intentions.

Although depictions of sexual consent are rare in the media, such portrayals have the potential to instruct young people on the procedural details of sexual consent. Taking an entertainment-education (E-E) perspective, we examined the effects of a televised depiction of sexual consent that contained verbal sexual consent, versus a televised depiction that only included nonverbal sexual consent, versus a no-exposure control group to test for changes in college students' attitudes and behavioral intentions toward sexual consent. In the pretest-posttest experimental design, those who were assigned to the nonverbal video condition reported less favorable attitudes about sexual consent between pretest and posttest.

Investigating Disparities by Sex and LGBTQ Identity: A Content Analysis of Sexual Health Information on College Student Health Center Websites.

Student Health Centers (SHCs) are important resources on U.S. college campuses.

The Heterosexual Script on Tween, Teen, and Young-Adult Television Programs: A Content Analytic Update and Extension.

In a well-cited 2007 paper in , Kim and colleagues proposed and documented a heterosexual script on primetime television. In the present study, we provide a 15-year update on the portrayal of the heterosexual script, and we further examine how it relates to three contextual variables: target age of the audience, age of the characters, and relational context of the script. Drawing from a 2016 sample of television programs that featured tween, teen, or young-adult characters, we documented three complementary sexual scripts: the sexual double standard (sexuality is equated with masculinity, women's virtue is tied to their sexuality), commitment (men avoid commitment, women seek it), and homophobia (men must avoid homosexuality, female homosexuality is voyeuristically appealing to men).

Appearance Framing versus Health Framing of Health Advice: Assessing the Effects of a YouTube Channel for Adolescent Girls.

The present experimental study tested the effects of appearance framing of health advice on adolescent girls' state self-objectification, appearance anxiety, and preference for appearance-enhancing products. The stimuli consisted of informative YouTube-style videos about doing yoga, drinking water, or using sunscreen, and these videos were either appearance-framed (experimental condition) or health-framed (control condition). In total, 154 adolescent girls ( = 15.

Examining the Effects of MTV's 16 and Pregnant on Adolescent Girls' Sexual Health: The Implications of Character Affinity, Pregnancy Risk Factors, and Health Literacy on Message Effectiveness.

Health communication strategies to decrease teen pregnancies include the employment of entertainment-education (E-E), which involves embedding health messages in an entertainment media vehicle that is relatable and attractive to the intended audience. MTV's 16 and Pregnant is an example of such an effort as an E-E documentary-style reality show that aimed to reduce the U.S.

Health Versus Appearance Versus Body Competence: A Content Analysis Investigating Frames of Health Advice in Women's Health Magazines.

The present study investigated the extent to which women's health magazines advise readers to adopt healthy behaviors in order to look good (appearance frame), in order to feel good (health frame), or in order to perform better (body competence frame). A content analysis of 5 years of the 6 highest circulating U.S.

Understanding the effects of MTV's 16 and Pregnant on adolescent girls' beliefs, attitudes, and behavioral intentions toward teen pregnancy.

This article examines the impact of a popular documentary series about teen pregnancy, MTV's 16 and Pregnant, on adolescent girls' pregnancy-related attitudes, beliefs, and behavioral intentions. The results suggest that girls who watched 16 and Pregnant, compared with a control group, reported a lower perception of their own risk for pregnancy and a greater perception that the benefits of teen pregnancy outweigh the risks. The authors also examined the relationships between homophily and parasocial interaction with the teen moms featured in 16 and Pregnant and attitudes, beliefs, and behavioral intentions, finding that homophily predicted lower risk perceptions, greater acceptance of myths about teen pregnancy, and more favorable attitudes about teen pregnancy.

Development and validation of the endorsement of the hookup culture index.

Although researchers have examined the predictors and outcomes of the behavioral aspect of "hooking up," typically defined as casual, commitment-free sexual encounters, research has not yet examined the extent to which young people endorse the culture associated with hooking up. Based on the argument that there is a set of understood rules and assumptions associated with hooking up, this article describes the development of an instrument to measure college students' endorsement of the hookup culture. Results from two studies found that five factors represent endorsement of the hookup culture: (a) a belief that hooking up is harmless and best without emotional commitment, (b) a belief that hooking up is fun, (c) a belief that hooking up will enhance one's status in one's peer group, (d) a belief that hooking up allows one to assert control over one's sexuality, and (e) a belief that hooking up is a reflection of one's sexual freedom.