Associations Between Croatian Adolescents’ Use of Sexually Explicit Material and Sexual Behavior: Does Parental Monitoring Play a Role?

Abstract

The use of sexually explicit material (SEM) has become a part of adolescent sexual socialization, at least in the Western world. Adolescent and young people's SEM use has been associated with risky sexual behaviors, which has recently resulted in policy debates about restricting access to SEM. Such development seems to suggest a crisis of the preventive role of parental oversight. Based on the Differential Susceptibility to Media Effects Model, this study assessed the role of parental monitoring in the context of adolescent vulnerability to SEM-associated risky or potentially adverse outcomes (sexual activity, sexual aggressiveness, and sexting). Using an online sample of Croatian 16-year-olds (N = 1265) and structural equation modeling approach, parental monitoring was found consistently and negatively related to the problematic behavioral outcomes, regardless of participants' gender. While SEM use was related to sexual experience and sexting, higher levels of parental monitoring were associated with less frequent SEM use and lower acceptance of sexual permissiveness. Despite parents' fears about losing the ability to monitor their adolescent children's lives in the Internet era, there is evidence that parental engagement remains an important protective factor.

Associations between adolescents’ use of sexually explicit material and risky sexual behavior: A longitudinal assessment

“…To enhance the robustness of our findings, the analyses were replicated in an independent online panel of adolescents from Zagreb, the Croatian capital city. The Zagreb panel was launched in April 2015 (for details, see [31]). The panel suffered from a high attrition rate from baseline (or T1) to T2—similar to the one reported in a recent online panel of Dutch adolescents [32]—but stabilized afterward.…”

Motivational Determinants of Sexting

“…Both in research and also in an educational and preventive sense, it is important to establish protective factors regarding sexting. For example, in the research by Tomić, Burić, and Štulhofer (2018) it was shown that parental supervision may play an important role in preventing negative outcomes from this phenomenon. Alongside parents, schools and teachers should work to develop successful relationships with pupils and offer a variety of extracurricular activities for children and young people (according to West et al 2014).…”

Adolescent Sexting: A Narrative Review

“…In one study, at least one third reported that their child had a friend who tried sexting, less than half the parents reported discussing sexting risks with their adolescents and one quarter of parents reported that they were not monitoring their adolescents' media use (Ahern, Kemppainen & Thacker, 2016). In a sample of Croatian adolescents (N=1265), parental monitoring was consistently and negatively associated with sexting behaviors regardless of the adolescents' gender (Tomic, Buric & Stulhofer, 2018). Higher levels of parental monitoring were associated with less frequent sexting.…”