Feb 24, 2009
PITTSBURGH (US) - A UNITED States study has linked listening to music with sexual lyrics to teenagers having sex at an earlier age.
According to a report on BBC, researchers from Pittsburgh University questioned 711 teens about their music choices and habits and their sex lives.
Those who regularly listen to music with explicit and aggressive sexual phrases were found to be twice as likely to be sexually active. Degrading sexual lyrics were those that descripted sex as a physical act and/or were link to power reported the American Journal of Preventative Medicine.
The teenagers were split into three groups depending on the amount of time spent listening to music and ranged in age from 13 to 18 years.
Regular listeners spent 17.6 hours a week on music and 'not often' spent under 2.7 hours listening to music. The research found that 45 per cent of regular listeners had had sex, compared to just 21 per cent of infrequent listeners.
"There certainly seems to be a link, but it is hard to say whether listening to music is directly contributing to having sex earlier,' said lead researcher Dr Brian Primack. "However, I think parents should consider this. It is tempting to say music is just 'teenage stuff'.
"I am not saying parents should try to ban such music, that is unlikely to help. But they should be talking to their children about sex and putting these sorts of lyrics in context."
However experts in the United Kingdom were sceptical about the results.
"Obviously the cultural environment plays a part, but that is not to say there is a causal link,' said a spokesman for Brook, the sexual health charity for young people. "It is far too simplistic to say just because someone listens to this music they have sex. There are a variety of factors that influence decisions."
[Eternal question of correlation or causation. But certainly cause for concern.]
PITTSBURGH (US) - A UNITED States study has linked listening to music with sexual lyrics to teenagers having sex at an earlier age.
According to a report on BBC, researchers from Pittsburgh University questioned 711 teens about their music choices and habits and their sex lives.
Those who regularly listen to music with explicit and aggressive sexual phrases were found to be twice as likely to be sexually active. Degrading sexual lyrics were those that descripted sex as a physical act and/or were link to power reported the American Journal of Preventative Medicine.
The teenagers were split into three groups depending on the amount of time spent listening to music and ranged in age from 13 to 18 years.
Regular listeners spent 17.6 hours a week on music and 'not often' spent under 2.7 hours listening to music. The research found that 45 per cent of regular listeners had had sex, compared to just 21 per cent of infrequent listeners.
"There certainly seems to be a link, but it is hard to say whether listening to music is directly contributing to having sex earlier,' said lead researcher Dr Brian Primack. "However, I think parents should consider this. It is tempting to say music is just 'teenage stuff'.
"I am not saying parents should try to ban such music, that is unlikely to help. But they should be talking to their children about sex and putting these sorts of lyrics in context."
However experts in the United Kingdom were sceptical about the results.
"Obviously the cultural environment plays a part, but that is not to say there is a causal link,' said a spokesman for Brook, the sexual health charity for young people. "It is far too simplistic to say just because someone listens to this music they have sex. There are a variety of factors that influence decisions."
[Eternal question of correlation or causation. But certainly cause for concern.]
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