Online communication is associated with offline romantic and
sexual activity among college students. Yet, it is unknown whether online
communication is associated with the initiation of romantic and sexual activity
among adolescents. This two-wave panel study investigated whether chatting,
visiting dating websites, and visiting erotic contact websites predicted
adolescents' initiation of romantic and sexual activity.
We analyzed two-wave
panel data from 1163 Belgian adolescents who participated in the MORES Study.
We investigated the longitudinal impact of online communication on the
initiation of romantic relationships and sexual intercourse using logistic
regression analyses.
The odds ratios of initiating a romantic relationship
among romantically inexperienced adolescents who frequently used chat rooms,
dating websites, or erotic contact websites were two to three times larger than
those of non-users. Among sexually inexperienced adolescents who frequently
used chat rooms, dating websites, or erotic contact websites, the odds ratios
of initiating sexual intercourse were two to five times larger than that among
non-users, even after a number of other relevant factors were introduced.
This is the first study to demonstrate that online
communication predicts the initiation of offline sexual and romantic activity
as early as adolescence. Practitioners and parents need to consider the role of
online communication in adolescents' developing sexuality.
Purchase full article at: http://goo.gl/yyjska
By:
- 1Leuven School for Mass Communication Research, Faculty of Social Sciences, University of Leuven, Parkstraat 45, PO box 3603, B-3000, Leuven, Belgium. laura.vandenbosch@soc.kuleuven.be.
- 2Research Foundation Flanders (FWO-Vlaanderen), Brussels, Belgium. laura.vandenbosch@soc.kuleuven.be.
- 3MIOS (Media, ICT, and Interpersonal Relations in Organisations and Society) University of Antwerp, Antwerp, Belgium. laura.vandenbosch@soc.kuleuven.be.
- 4Leuven School for Mass Communication Research, Faculty of Social Sciences, University of Leuven, Parkstraat 45, PO box 3603, B-3000, Leuven, Belgium. ine.beyens@soc.kuleuven.be.
- 5Leuven School for Mass Communication Research, Faculty of Social Sciences, University of Leuven, Parkstraat 45, PO box 3603, B-3000, Leuven, Belgium. laurens.vangeel@soc.kuleuven.be.
- 6Leuven School for Mass Communication Research, Faculty of Social Sciences, University of Leuven, Parkstraat 45, PO box 3603, B-3000, Leuven, Belgium. steven.eggermont@soc.kuleuven.be.
More at: https://twitter.com/hiv_insight
No comments:
Post a Comment