Association between pubertal timing and trajectory of pornography use in boys and girls

Use and gratification theory states that audience selects channel and content of media to gratify their needs. This study investigates how pubertal timing affects the trajectory of pornography use in adolescence. Sample consists of 2236 subjects from Child and Adolescent Behaviors in Long-term Evolution (CABLE) project. Group-Based Trajectory Modeling is used to identify trajectory of pornography use from middle to high school, and multinomial logistic regression is used to examine the association between pubertal timing and the trajectory. Four pornography use trajectory groups are identified for boys: early-start heavy user (16.58%), gradual adopter (39.78%), late bloomer (22.49%) and non-user (21.15%). For girls, 3 groups are identified: early-start heavy user (16.25%), gradual adopter (26.52%), and non-user (57.23%). Late developers relative to early developers are more likely to be non-users than gradual adopters (OR: 2.379 for boys and 1.964 for girls) and are less likely to be early-start heavy users than gradual adopters (OR: 0.363 for boys and 0.526 for girls). Peer use of pornography is a strong predictor for teenagers’ pornography use trajectory. Teenagers who report more peer use are more likely to start watching pornography early and more often. The odds ratios for trajectory groups by pubertal timing decreased, when peer use is introduced. For boys some odds ratios even become insignificant, suggesting a full mediating effect. Early maturation is a risk factor for heavy use of pornography. Peer use is a possible mediator between pubertal timing and pornography use. Media literacy and sex education for teenagers should take into account adolescents’ pubertal development.