Media multitasking: Issues posed in measuring the effects of television sexual content exposure

Adolescents who see more sexual content on television are more likely to initiate intercourse over the subsequent year. The present study hypothesized that use of the internet while watching television would moderate this relationship. Internet use might either strengthen or weaken the association between television-viewing and sex; various theories conflict in their predictions. A national sample of 1,762 12-17 year olds completed a telephone survey at baseline and one year later. Using multivariate logistic regression analysis, baseline exposure to sexual content on television was used to predict intercourse initiation by follow-up among baseline virgins. The equation controlled for potentially confounding characteristics and tested for an interaction between sexual content exposure and self-reported multitasking. Half of youth reported using the internet while watching television. The interaction between multitasking and sexual content exposure was significant; exposure to sexual content on television was more strongly related to sexual initiation among multitaskers. Divided attention may allow television messages to "slip past the radar" of viewers who would reject these messages if they devoted cognitive resources to critically examining them. Media multitasking is likely to become more prevalent as new media continue to be introduced. Future studies of television-viewing effects may need to assess multitasking to avoid missing effects in this important subgroup of viewers.