Longitudinal Assessment of the Association Between Pornography Use and Sexual Satisfaction in Adolescence

Pornography has been theorized to affect sexual satisfaction for decades, yet only two prospective studies, both conducted in the Netherlands, have explored this link among adolescents. Given the unprecedented availability of (online) sexually explicit content and the potential importance of its relationship to sexual satisfaction for young people, we have revisited the association between these variables in a less sexually permissive society. Using a panel sample of 775 female and 514 male Croatian high school students (M_{age at baseline} = 15.9 years, SD = 0.52) and latent growth curve modeling with six observation points, we did not find a significant association between changes in the frequency of adolescents' pornography use over time and their sexual satisfaction at wave six. The association between the initial levels of pornography use and sexual satisfaction, which, if present, would have indicated a possible relationship during middle adolescence, was also null. These patterns were similar across genders. Possible explanations for the difference between our results and the results of the previous studies are discussed.