An ESRI report on pornography use finds poorer wellbeing outcomes, more depressive symptoms, lower self-image, and less life satisfaction among regular consumers of such material.

New research, ‘Use of Pornography by Young Adults in Ireland’, published today (14 March) by the Economic and Social Research Institute (ESRI), finds that online pornography use in Ireland is sharply divided by sex, with 64% of young men and 13% of young women reporting use.

A similar sex gap in pornography use has been observed in other countries.

The research draws on data from the ’98 Cohort of the Growing Up in Ireland (GUI) study to look at pornography use among over 4,500 young adults at age 20.

Parental monitoring

The study finds that:

• Different factors are linked to pornography use for men and women,
• Men from more advantaged backgrounds are more likely to use pornography with little systematic variation by social background for women,
• Men from lone-parent families are less likely than those from two-parent families to use pornography, while rates of use are higher for women from lone-parent families,
• Pornography use is lower among the religious, and where there is greater parental monitoring of behaviour in adolescence,
• No strong relationship was evident between the provision of Relationship and Sexuality Education (RSE) at school and pornography use, but this finding is limited by the fact that the GUI study did not collect data on the quality or extent of RSE,
• Young people who are more reliant on the internet or (in the case of men in particular) their friends, rather than their parents for information about sex, are significantly more likely to use pornography,
• Gay people, particularly women in this group, are more likely to use pornography which may reflect information-seeking or lack of contact with peers.

Outcomes

The study also looked at the relationship between pornography use and sexual behaviour and wellbeing outcomes.

• Users and non-users of pornography do not differ in their use of contraception, but users of pornography are significantly less likely to use condoms regularly,
• Men who use pornography have poorer wellbeing than non-users, being less satisfied with their lives, reporting more depressive symptoms, and having a poorer self-image. This pattern is evident even taking account of levels of wellbeing at 17,
• Among both women and men, those who use pornography have higher levels of aggression and are more likely to cope with stress by using negative strategies, such as drinking alcohol or drug-taking, or by “taking to the bed”.

Author Emer Smyth of the ESRI commented: “Poorer wellbeing is found among pornography users, especially men.

"There is value therefore in addressing use, and potentially problematic internet use in general, through mental-health promotion measures.”