A new study the Rand Health research services claims a correlation between sexual content on TV and the ability to predict teen pregnancy.
According to its national survey of adolescents, ages 12-17, "teens who were exposed to high levels of television sexual content (90th percentile) were twice as likely to experience a pregnancy in the subsequent 3 years, compared with those with lower levels of exposure (10th percentile)."
The teens were monitored between the ages of 15 and 20 for either subsequent pregnancy (girls), or responsibility for pregnancy (boys).
The study proposed several ways to deal with the data, including limiting adolescent exposure to sexual content on TV, presenting more balanced portrayals of sex, and more parental oversight of TV and discussion of the issues raised by depictions of sex.
