Identifying the Effects of Sexual Content in Media on Sexual Behaviour among Youth Attending Educational Institutions in Thimphu, Bhutan

Abstract

Youth have been found to be the most extensive users of media and technology regardless of socio-economic or demographic status. An increasing amount of sexual content in various forms of media has been available over the years. Given the vulnerability of this age group to be influenced by the content that they access on media, there is a need to study the possible effects of sexual content in media on like sexual behaviour especially in Bhutan where research in this area is non-existent. Objectives of the study were to document sexual content exposure in media and identify associations between exposure and sexual behaviour of youth. A cross sectional study design was conducted among students in classes from 10 educational institutions in Thimphu, Bhutan. Participating youth were recruited in the study using stratified random sampling method. Data were collected using a pre-structured self-administered questionnaire maintaining privacy. Data entry and analysis were done using IBM SPSS statistical software version 22. In total, 423 participants were recruited out of which 45.2% were males and 54.8% were females, the mean age was 17.8 years (SD ±2.464). Respondents between the ages 15-19 made up 74.5% of the sample and those between the ages 20-24 made up 25.5%. The Internet was the most popular form of media among the respondents (87.9%) and time spent accessing media varied between 1-2 hours (29.1%), 2-3 hours (24.6%), and more than 4 hours (21.3%) per day. Sexual content was reported to be found in at least some of the media by a majority (69%) and spent less than 15 minutes a day accessing sexual content (66.9%). Of the participants 21.3% were sexually active (21.3%). Pearson chi-square tests showed association (p<0.05) between factors like average time spent on media per day and sexual activity. Binary logistic regression of sexual activity against predictors like age group, gender, time spent on media, medias containing sexual content, acceptance of consumption of sexually explicit content, and willingly accessing sexually explicit content showed significant associations and likeliness to be sexually active. However binary logistic regression of other behaviours like having multiple sexual partners and use of contraception during last sexual intercourse did not show any statistically significant results.