a Department of General Internal Medicine & Health Services Research.
b Department of Community Health Sciences , Fielding School of Public Health.
Health Commun. 2019 May;34(6):644-651. doi: 10.1080/10410236.2018.1431020. Epub 2018 Feb 1.
Television is a leading source of sexual education for teens and young adults, thus it is important to understand how sexual behavior and reproductive health are portrayed in popular primetime programming. This study is a media content analysis of the 19 top-rated scripted English-language primetime television shows aired between January 1, 2015 and May 31, 2015, and viewed by American youth audiences 12-24 years of age. The purpose of this study is to assess how sex/sexuality and reproductive health are being portrayed in a popular medium that reaches many adolescent and young adult audiences. Themes used for this analysis include youth pregnancy/parenting, mentoring/guidance of youth regarding sexual behavior, sex/sexuality, body image/identity, sexual violence/abuse/harassment, gender identity/sexual orientation, and reproductive health. Themes have been classified in one of the following six categories: visual cues, brief mentions, dialogue, minor storylines, major storylines, and multi-episode storylines. Our findings indicate that narratives providing educational information regarding the risks and consequences of sexual behavior were missing from the television shows we analyzed and that storylines promoting low risk sexual behavior were rare. Sexual violence and abuse, casual sex among adults, lack of contraception use, or no portrayal of consequences of risky behaviors were common. Compared to prior research, we found an emergent theme normalizing non-heterosexual gender identity and sexual orientation. Our findings have important implications as exposure to popular media shapes the perceptions and behaviors of teens and young adults. This study has the potential to shed light on the need to create stories and narratives in television shows watched by American teens and young adults with educational messages regarding the risks and consequences of sexual behavior.
电视是青少年和年轻人主要的性教育来源，因此了解性行为和生殖健康在热门黄金时段节目中是如何呈现的很重要。本研究是对 2015 年 1 月 1 日至 2015 年 5 月 31 日期间播出的 19 部收视率最高的英语黄金时段电视剧进行的媒体内容分析，这些电视剧的收视观众为 12-24 岁的美国青年。本研究的目的是评估性行为/性和生殖健康在一个受众广泛的流行媒体中是如何呈现的，该媒体可以触及到许多青少年和年轻观众。本分析使用的主题包括青少年怀孕/养育子女、对青少年性行为的指导和引导、性行为/性、身体形象/身份、性暴力/虐待/骚扰、性别认同/性取向和生殖健康。主题被分为以下六个类别之一：视觉线索、简要提及、对话、次要故事情节、主要故事情节和多集故事情节。我们的研究结果表明，在我们分析的电视剧中，缺乏关于性行为风险和后果的教育信息的叙事，而很少有故事情节宣传低风险性行为。性暴力和虐待、成年人之间的随意性行为、缺乏避孕措施或没有描绘危险行为的后果很常见。与之前的研究相比，我们发现了一个新的主题，即正常化非异性恋性别认同和性取向。我们的研究结果具有重要意义，因为接触流行媒体会影响青少年和年轻人的看法和行为。本研究有可能揭示出需要在青少年和年轻人观看的电视剧中创造具有教育意义的故事和叙事，以传达性行为的风险和后果。
