Over a third of Irish teens have watched porn in previous year, research reveals

The survey of almost 5,300 teenagers aged 13-17 from the west of Ireland in November 2022 revealed that 37% of respondents had used pornography in the previous year with boys more than twice as likely as girls to have watched porn — 51% compared to 24%. File picture: iStock

More than a third of Irish teenagers admitted to watching pornography within the past 12 months, according to new research which suggests a strong link between use of pornography and risky sexual behaviour.

The study revealed that teenagers who had viewed porn, felt pressured to watch it, or used porn as a source of information, were up to three times more likely to have engaged in condomless sex and sex while under the influence of alcohol and/or drugs compared to those who had not.

It revealed that 37% of respondents had used pornography in the previous year with boys more than twice as likely as girls to have watched porn — 51% compared to 24%.

Almost one in five teenagers admitted they had first watched pornography before they were 12 years old. Use of pornography also increased with age, with 42% of those aged 17 and over having watched pornography compared to 35% of 15-year-olds.

Almost 15% of teenagers stated they had used pornography as a source of information to learn about sex, of which 60% were males. Only 3% claimed they had felt pressured to view pornography by a peer or sexual partner.

The study found that the protective influence of parental monitoring was evident across all results with higher levels of monitoring consistently reducing the likelihood of a teenager engaging in risky sexual behaviour.

The research, which is published in the journal Public Health in Practice, is based on analysis of data compiled in the Planet Youth Survey of almost 5,300 teenagers aged 13-17 from the west of Ireland in November 2022 — one of the largest surveys of its kind ever conducted with Irish adolescents.

Students from post-primary schools and Youthreach centres in Galway, Mayo, and Roscommon were asked a detailed questionnaire about various topics including health and wellbeing, internet and screen use, substance use and sexual health.

Risky sexual behaviour

The study also highlighted how 27% of adolescents reported having engaged in sexual activity in the previous year, with approximately half of those saying it was done under the influence of alcohol and/or drugs — a finding described as “concerning” given the association between substance use and risky sexual behaviours.

The study revealed that 6.5% of respondents had engaged in condomless sex in the previous year, representing 46% of all sexually initiated adolescents.

However, it found that teenagers with higher levels of parental monitoring were less likely to have had sex without using condoms whereas adolescents who experienced deprivation were more likely to have done so.

Similar findings were made about teenagers who had early sexual initiation, with almost three in 10 respondents stating they had first engaged in sexual activity before the age of 15.

Researchers admitted that an unexpected finding was how teenagers receiving sexual health information from either their parents or a medical source had higher odds of condomless sex.

The study noted that online pornography is increasingly accessible to teenagers in Europe due to the proliferation of mobile phone ownership with consequent concerns about the influence of pornography on adolescent sexual health behaviours.

The study observed that inconsistent and unreliable sexual health education often leads teenagers to seek information about sex from online pornography which can result in modelling behaviours from explicit content and potentially normalising risk-taking sexual behaviours.

It said evidence from other research indicated risky sexual behaviour can have a range of adverse outcomes including sexually transmitted infections, unwanted pregnancies and sexual aggression.

One of the main authors of the study, a consultant in public health medicine and lecturer in University College Cork, Peter Barrett, said the results showed pornography use is prevalent among adolescents in Ireland.

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Although it could not be deduced that pornography directly causes risky sexual behaviour, Dr Barrett said it raises questions about the potential influence that the pornography industry may have on teenagers, for example through its own depiction of condomless sex.

Dr Barrett said the findings support the prioritisation of integrated, evidence-based sexual health strategies incorporating parental engagement and comprehensive school-based sexuality education.

He recommended that broader public health interventions were also necessary to address risk-taking sexual behaviours by teenagers.