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Teenagers who watch racy TV 'more likely to get pregnant'
Ed Harris03.11.08
PREGNANCY rates among teenagers who watch a lot of TV with sexual dialogue and behaviour are higher than those who have tamer viewing tastes, research published today suggests.
Young people who watched shows such as Sex And The City and Friends were twice as likely to become pregnant over the next three years as those who watched few such programmes, the US study found.
Previous research by some of the same scientists, at the Rand Corporation think tank, had already found that watching a lot of sex on TV can influence teenagers to have sex at an earlier age.
The new report's lead author, behavioural scientist Anita Chandra, said shows that only highlight the positive aspects of sexual behaviour without the risks can lead teenagers to have unprotected sex "before they're ready to make responsible and informed decisions".
In the study, released today in the November issue of Pediatrics, researchers quizzed 2,003 girls and boys aged 12 to 17 about their TV viewing habits in 2001.
Teenagers were re-interviewed twice, the last time in 2004, and asked about pregnancy. Among girls, 58 became pregnant during the follow-up, and among boys, 33 said they had got a girl pregnant.
Participants were asked how often they watched any of more than 20 TV shows with lots of sexual content. Pregnancies were twice as common among those who said they watched such shows regularly.
US teenage pregnancies were on a 15-year decline until a three per cent rise in 2006, according to the latest data. Experts think that could be a statistical blip.
Reader views (4)
"Pregnancies were twice as common among those who said they watched such shows regularly"
Or perhaps watching those shows was twice as common among those who had become pregnant?
This is the trouble with statistics. Confusing cause and effect. Perhaps the ones who don't get pregnant go out and enjoy themselves more often, and the ones who do get pregnant have to stay in with the kids and watch idiotic TV programmes?
And where do you find programmes WITHOUT explicit sexual content these days???
- Justin, London, UK
Who defined what "racy TV" is? This is a silly notion.
- Keith Price, Luton, England
What utter tosh. Girls get pregnant because they can't say no or keep their knickers on and have sex with boys who are as irresponsible as they are! Still never mind, eh, as it's us full-time workers that ends up paying to bring up their kids for them.
- Sue, Orpington, Kent
Why do they keep wasting my money on these pointless surveys. Put the money to better use.
- Barbara, London
