There is no unified body of knowledge relating to the impact of sexualised media upon adolescent sexual health and little research has been conducted from a young person's perspective. Despite this, media exposure is often cited as negatively influencing the sexuality, sexual behaviours and the sexual health of young people. The dominant Public Health discourse suggests sexual or sexualised media causes early sexual initiation and promiscuity, leading to teenage pregnancy, sexually transmitted infections and abortion. Recent context has shown increasing calls for control and regulation to protect children. This qualitative study was undertaken with 22 purposively sampled young people aged 16 to 19 in the United Kingdom and investigated their perceptions of the impact of sexualised media on their sexual health. In particular, what media forms young people prioritise and why; how they report engaging with media that has sexual content; their perceptions of risk and views of if and how media impact on their sexual health.

No description available.

No description available.