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Authors: Alfonso Osorio (Universidad de Navarra), Aranzazu Albertos (Universidad de Navarra), Maria Calatrava (Universidad de Navarra)
Background: Adolescent dating violence (ADV) is a significant public health and social concern that has gained increasing attention in recent decades. Preventing ADV requires coordinated efforts from families, educators, and policymakers. One potential contributing factor is pornography consumption, which often depicts violent sexual encounters in which women are frequently portrayed as passive or victimized. These representations may normalize aggression and reinforce harmful gender stereotypes, shaping adolescents’ beliefs and expectations about romantic and sexual relationships. This study aimed to explore the longitudinal association between pornography use and both the perpetration and victimization of dating violence among adolescents in Spanish-speaking countries.
Methods: A two-wave longitudinal study was conducted with adolescents from Argentina, Mexico, and Spain. At Time 1, participants completed a school-based survey that included items on pornography consumption and experiences of ADV—both as perpetrators and victims. Psychological, physical, and sexual violence were assessed separately. At Time 2, approximately two years later, the same measures were administered. Analyses focused on participants who had reported no ADV at Time 1 to examine the predictive role of pornography use on the onset of ADV at Time 2.
Results: Preliminary findings indicate that boys who consumed pornography at Time 1 were more likely to perpetrate psychological and sexual violence at Time 2. Among girls, pornography use at Time 1 was associated with higher odds of both experiencing and perpetrating psychological and sexual violence.
Discussion: These results suggest that pornography use may be a risk factor for the development of ADV in both boys and girls. Preventive strategies addressing ADV should consider adolescents’ exposure to pornography and include critical education about media representations of gender and sexuality.
| Conflict of interest | Authors declare no conflict of interest |
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