Music Lyrics Prompt Teen Sex

Yahoo News is reporting a new study that finds teens that listen to music with sexual lyrics start having sex sooner than those kids who prefer other music. Researchers found that "[w]hether it's hip-hop, rap, pop or rock ... [its] influence on their behavior appears to depend on how the sex is portrayed." Teens that listen to degrading sexual messages were almost twice as likely to start having sex in the next two years than teens listening to little or no sexually degrading music. Specifically, "[s]ongs depicting men as 'sex-driven studs,' women as sex objects and with explicit references to sex acts are more likely to trigger early sexual behavior than those where sexual references are more veiled and relationships appear more committed."

The study was conducted via telephone interviews with 1,461 participants aged 12 to 17, most of whom were virgins when they were first questioned in 2001. Follow-up interviews were done in 2002 and 2004 to assess the influence of music choice on subsequent behavior. Researchers also "tried to account for other factors that could affect teens' sexual behavior, including parental permissiveness."

Some are skeptical of the results. Benjamin Chavis, chief executive officer of the Hip-Hop Summit Action Network, cautioned against "rushing to judgment that music more than any other factor is a causative factor" for teens initiating sex. Yvonne K. Fulbright, a New York-based sex researcher and author, also claims that "factors including peer pressure, self-esteem and home environment are probably more influential than the research suggests." On the other hand, David Walsh, a psychologist who heads the National Institute on Media and the Family, agreed with the results. The study will appear in August issue of Pediatrics.

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