Teens, Sex, and Media Effects

Stacey J.T. Hust, Ph.D., Washington State University, United States, is a Professor of Health Communication and Associate Dean of Faculty Affairs and College Operations in the Edward R. Murrow College of Communication. She studies how media influence adolescents’ romantic and sexual lives.Jessica Fitts Willoughby, Ph.D., Washington State University, United States, is a Lester M. Smith Distinguished Associate Professor in the Edward R. Murrow College of Communication. She examines how media can be used to improve health attitudes and behaviors among adolescents.Rebecca Ortiz, Ph.D., Syracuse University, United States, is an Associate Professor in the S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications whose research focuses on sexual health promotion, sexual violence prevention, and sexual media effects on adolescents and young adults.

"In the last twenty years, our media landscape and our sexual cultures have significantly evolved beyond legacy screens and gender binaries. Hust, Willoughby, and Ortiz have composed a thoughtful and timely volume that recognizes that evolution and modernizes our understanding of both media and sex. The volume is organized with intent, providing deliberate and detailed introductions and commentaries for each section of the text to guide the reader. With a focus on sexual identity, effects of exposure, and teens as content creators, Teens, Sex, and Media Effects: Understanding Media’s Influence on Adolescent Sexuality, Sexual Health, and Advocacy recognizes the established literature while pushing the needle forward in a meaningful way. This volume is sure to be a meaningful resource for scholars, parents, and policy makers alike."Bradley J. Bond, University of San Diego, USA"This book is a must-read for anyone working in the areas of media studies and adolescent health, advocacy, and education. The book covers a comprehensive array of topics and focuses on research that has been conducted in the last decade. Strengths of the book are the inclusion of contributors from a wide range of disciplines and countries and the focus on research that gives precedence to the voices of adolescents themselves."Cynthia A. Graham, Indiana University Bloomington, USA"In Teens, Sex, and Media Effects: Understanding Media’s Influence on Adolescent Sexuality, Sexual Health, and Advocacy, editors Stacey J.T. Hust, Jessica Fitts Willoughby, and Rebecca Ortiz curate a collection of meticulously designed studies by the leading scholars in the field of youth, media and sexuality. This comprehensive, contemporary, and international collection is destined to set the 21st century standard for understanding young people’s relationship to sexual content in today’s multi-platform media landscape."Sharon R. Mazzarella, James Madison University, USA"Hust, Willoughby, and Ortiz offer tremendous breadth and thoughtful insights that could be informative for diverse readers, including media scholars, students (both graduate and undergraduate), stakeholders, parents, and adolescents, themselves. Via short and well-written chapters, this volume offers an updated take on media use, incorporating the increased access to media content via private devices, the increased personalization of our media diets, and the changing and more active nature of the media consumer. I think this work does an excellent job of reflecting the real-life contexts of today’s teens."L. Monique Ward, University of Michigan, USA

• List of Contributors Foreword Acknowledgements Introduction 1. State of the Field: A Look at the Research Landscape on Teens, Sex, and Media 2. The Motivations for and Challenges Conducting Research with Adolescents about Sexuality and Media Section 1: Let’s Talk About Mediated Sex: Using Media for Sexual Identity Development 3. Section 1 Introduction 4. Mediated Identities: A Qualitative Exploration of How Adolescents from Six Countries Make Sense of Gender Identity and Sexual Orientation in Media 5. Making Sense of Mediated Sexuality: Examining the Perceptions of First-Year College Students 6. LGBTQ Youth Report on Media-Based Interactions with their Parents 7. Girls Just Wanna. . .Figure Out Their Sexuality: Exploring the Links between Celebrity Idolization and U.S. Adolescent Girls’ Sexual Self-Concept 8. Section 1 Commentary Section 2: Princesses, Pornography, and Sexual Violence: Understanding the Impact of Teens’ Experiences with Sexual Media Content 9. Section 2 Introduction 10. What Becomes of the Pretty Princess? Childhood Princess Engagement and Women’s Gender and Relationship Conceptions in Late Adolescence 11. Image-Based Sexting and Sexual Abuse Experiences among Early Adolescents 12. Peers vs. Pixels: Teen Sexting as Influenced by Peer Norms and Pornography Use 13. Technology-Facilitated Sexual Violence among Adolescents: Prevalence, Age and Gender Differences, Changes over Time, and Mental Health Outcomes 14. Section 2 Commentary Section 3: Adolescents as Engagers and Creators: Opportunities for Media Education and Advocacy 15. Section 3 Introduction 16. Media Literacy Education for Comprehensive Sexual Health Promotion 17. Participatory Pathways: Envisioning Youth-Centric Digital Sexual Health Education 18. Disclosure of Sexual Assault in Entertainment Media: Adolescent Girls’ Sense-making of Supportive and Unsupportive Sexual Assault Disclosure Narratives 19. Adolescent’ Use of Social Media for Sexual and Reproductive Health Advocacy 20. Section 3 Commentary Conclusion 21. Envisioning the Future of Teens, Sex, and Media Research Measures Appendix Index