+ What’s the Harm? William M. Struthers Associate Professor of Psychology Wheaton College Wheaton, IL (USA) 23/5/2012

+ Overview Review of Research on Adolescent Pornography Use Review of Relevant Neurobiological Issues Considerations for Policy Making

+ The Impact of Internet Pornography on Adolescents Owens, Behun, Manning and Reid, (April, 2012) Sexual Addiction & Compulsivity, 19:

+ Attitudes and Beliefs Unrealistic attitudes abut sex and sexual relationships As exposure to SEM increases: increased belief that porn = real life increased belief that porn is applicable in real life increased instrumental view of sex (physical, mechanical rather than emotional, relational) increased sexual preoccupation increased acceptance of casual, extramarital sexIncresed sexual distractedness Increased sexual permissiveness Recreational view

+ Attitudes and Beliefs Mainstream and culturally acceptable (67% males, 49% females see porn as an acceptable outlet for sexuality) Porn has become the normative experience

+ Behaviors Broad agreement that SEM influences learning 'Mirror Neurons' Expectations and Demands Frequent SEM exposre 'Risky' sexual behaviors and drug use during sex Decreased age of first intercourse (‘acclerant ’, Kraus and Russell, 2008) Counteracted by education of negative consequences Inconsistent findings with respect to number of partners and agression/sexual aggression

+ Self Concept Pornographic Script Females - body image insecurity Males - performance anxiety Frequency of SEM Negatively correlated with self confidence Positively associated with social isolation and maladjustment (Mesch, 2009; Tsitsika et al, 2009) Increased depression (Ybarra and Mitchell, 2005) Decreased bonding with caregivers (Ybarra and Mitchell, 2005)

+ Clinical Issues Retrospective study of a clinical population shows that first exposure to SEM near puberty is associated with (in preparation, Struthers): emotionally detached attachment style increased compulsivity/impusivity poor self concept first exposure memories are vivid and typically have negative emotional valence over 80% is unintentional over 80% of first exposures are not discussed with parents/caregivers

+ Brain Science Research Context Brain Imaging (fMRI, PET, EEG) Experimental Design Sexual Stimuli Nudity/Naked Body Erotic – designed to stimulate sexual arousal or depictions of explicit sexual interactions Static vs. Dynamic Unimodal vs. Multimodal Processing Visual images/clips, audio clips, read stories (visual and linguistic), infidelity (linguistic and contextual)

+ Neurobiological Development Depper regions develop first, higher regions last Limbic areas (arousal and reward) preceeds cortical development SEM activates limbic regions which can lead to disproportionately strengthened associations without sufficient cortical regulation SEM exploits this developmentally compromised adolescent brain

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+ Neurobiology of Adolescence and Exposure to SEM Sexual development Hypothalamus Reward system development Striatum and amygdala Cortical development Frontal cortex (Executive Function and Emotional Regulation) Mirror Neurons

+ SEM has a unique effect –‘Mirrored’ SEM has valence (felt emotional state) SEM induces elevates arousal SEM is affected by context –Model pose/imputed action –Predisposition of the viewer –Pre- and Post-processing of context Considerations

+ Final Comments