Social Media and Sexual Behavior Among Adolescents: Is there a link?

Megan Landry, George Washington University
Monique Turner, George Washington University
Amita Vyas, George Washington University
Susan Wood, George Washington University

Reproduced with permission of JMIR Public Health and Surveillance Ltd. Social Media and Sexual Behavior Among Adolescents: Is there a link?

Abstract

BACKGROUND: Adolescent sexual risk taking and its consequences remain a global public health concern. Empirical evidence on the impact that social media has on sexual health behaviors among youth is sparse.

OBJECTIVE: The study aimed to examine the relationship between social media and the change in sexual risk over time and whether parental monitoring moderates this relationship.

METHODS: This study comprised a sample of 555 Latino youth aged 13-19 years from Maryland, United States completing baseline and follow-up surveys. Mixed-effects linear regression was used to examine the relationship between social media and the change in sexual risk over time and whether parental monitoring moderated the relationship.

RESULTS: Sexual risk behaviors significantly increased between baseline (T1) and follow up (T2) (mean=0.432 vs mean=0.734, P

CONCLUSIONS: Although adolescents exchange SMS at high rates, parental monitoring remains vital to parent-child relationships and can moderate SMS frequency and sexual risk behaviors, despite parental influence diminishing and peer pressure and social influences increasing during adolescence.