Young People’s Intentional and Unintentional Encounters with Internet Pornography in Australia

Abstract

Amidst the increased online engagement of adolescents, a growing global body of literature has examined adolescents’ encounters with internet pornography (IP). Though prevalence rates vary across studies, collectively the literature suggests that most adolescents have encountered IP. However, there is a lack of recent Australian research regarding adolescents’ encounters with IP, in particular research that distinguishes between intentional and unintentional encounters. The present study provides updated evidence on the prevalence of intentional and unintentional encounters with IP among Australian adolescents (n = 1004, 16–18 years) and examines sociodemographic characteristics associated with encounters. Approximately 75% of adolescents reported having ever encountered IP, with 40% of adolescents first encountering it under the age of 13 and accidentally. Most adolescents (63%) indicated that they encountered IP monthly or more often. Older adolescents, boys, sexually diverse adolescents, and disabled young people, were more likely to have ever encountered IP. Sexually diverse adolescents, young people with disability, and those who spoke a language other than English at home were also significantly more likely to first encounter IP at a younger age. Girls were more likely than boys to report first encountering IP unintentionally and were also more likely to report subsequent accidental encounters with IP. Conversely, boys were more likely to report encountering IP intentionally and recurrently. Finally, participants who reported being under 13 years of age when they first encountered IP were more likely to report recurrent and intentional encounters with IP. Our findings indicate that IP is highly visible in the online lives of Australian adolescents, with many encounters likely occurring unintentionally. Evidently, more stringent measures are needed on online platforms to prevent adolescents from unintentionally encountering IP.