Sexually Related Content on Television and Adolescents of Color: Media Theory, Physiological Development, and Psychological Impact

Abstract

This review examines differential impact of sexual content in the television media on adolescents of color. Drawing from available evidence in media use theory and content analyses, physiological development, and psychological impact, we argue that adolescents of color may be more vulnerable to sexual media messages and the presumed negative consequences for their sexual beliefs, attitudes, and engagement in sexual behaviors. The developmental tasks of the adolescent period may place adolescents of color at increased risk due to earlier pubertal development, greater desire for acquiring sexual and health information, and the need to identify role models to support identity development. Despite rapid technological changes and new entertainment media products available in the marketplace-despite the pervasiveness of computers, handheld devices, the Internet, CD and DVD players, MP3 devices, and the like-American adolescents still spend more time in front of televisions than in using any other form of entertainment media (Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation/Children Now, 1999). Between the ages of 8 and 18, American children are exposed on average to almost 8 hours of media each day, more than 40% through television. Among parents, educators, physicians, and public health personnel, there is a concomitant concern with the nature of the content available on television, especially sexually related content. Researchers have documented the increased prevalence of sexual communication and more explicit visual portrayals of sexual behavior in televised media (Kunkel et al., 1999). This more sexualized television fare has gained attention at a time when rates of adolescent pregnancy and sexually transmitted infections remain unacceptably high (Center for Disease Control [CDC], 1995, 1998; Fleming, 1996; Ozer, Brindis, Millstein, Knopf, & Irwin, 1998). Consequently, it seems natural to question whether the values and behaviors presented in public entertainment media are having an unhealthy impact on the children and adolescents who consume them in such large quantities. The evidence also suggests that African American and Hispanic youth have higher rates of daily media exposure than Whites do, as well as higher percentages of youth who consume in excess of seven hours of media each day (Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation/ Children Now, 1999). On average, these youth spend over an hour a day more than White adolescents watching television. Although sexual content in the television media has the potential to affect any age group, adolescents may be a particularly vulnerable population because adolescence is a critical developmental period when gender roles, sexual attitudes, and sexual behaviors are being shaped (Committee on Communications, 1995). If adolescents of color are more likely to be exposed to sexually related television content due to higher rates of media use, then it seems reasonable to question whether they would be more vulnerable to the potentially negative consequences of that exposure. This review will attempt to examine the question of differential impact of sexual content in the television media on adolescents of color. Drawing from available evidence in media use theory and content analyses, physiological development, and psychological impact, we will attempt to argue that adolescents of color may be more vulnerable to sexual media messages and the presumed negative consequences for their sexual beliefs, attitudes, and engagement in sexual behaviors. Prevalence of Sexual Content in Television Analyses of the content of broadcast television programming indicate that, on average, adolescent viewers see more than 140 incidents of sexual behavior on prime-time network television each week (Louis Harris & Associates, 1988), with portrayals of 3 to 4 times as many sexual activities occurring between unmarried partners as between spouses (Greenberg et al., 1993). In addition, as much as 80% of all movies shown on network or cable television stations have sexual content (Kunkel et al. …