美國：青少年懷孕與色情電視節目有關

Exposure to some forms of entertainment is a corrupting influence on children, leading teens who watch sexy programs into early pregnancies and children who play violent video games to adopt aggressive behavior, researchers said on Monday.

The researchers recruited adolescents aged 12 to 17 and surveyed them three times between 2001 and 2004, asking about television viewing habits, sexual behavior and pregnancy.

In findings that covered 718 teenagers, there were 91 pregnancies. Those with the highest exposure to sex on television were twice as likely to be involved in a pregnancy than those with the least exposure.

"Adolescents receive a considerable amount of information about sex through television and that programming typically does not highlight the risks and responsibilities of sex," said Anita Chandra, the lead author and a behavioral scientist at RAND, the nonprofit research organization that funded the study.

"Our findings suggest that television may play a significant role in the high rates of teenage pregnancy in the United States," she said.

Researchers said the study demonstrated that programs with sexual content create the perception there is little risk of sex without contraception.

The rate of teenage pregnancies has increased for the first time in 15 years, measuring 41.9 births per 1,000 Americans aged 15 to 19 years in 2006, according to the Center for Prevention and Disease Control (CDC).

"The amount of sexual content on television has doubled in recent years, and there is little representation of safer sex practices in those portrayals," said Chandra.

The findings have implications for broadcasters, parents and health care providers, she added.

The US has one of the highest teen pregnancy rates among industrialized nations, with nearly one million adolescent females becoming pregnant each year, with the majority of these pregnancies unplanned, according to RAND.

研究人員於本週一稱，如今一些具有色情和暴力性質的娛樂內容正對青少年造成“腐蝕性”的危害，受此類電視節目和電子遊戲影響，青少年易發生意外懷孕和形成暴力傾向。

研究人員從2001年至2004年對718名年齡在12歲至17歲之間的青少年進行了三次調查，詢問他們的收視習慣、性行爲和是否有過懷孕史等問題。

在這些受訪者中，有91人有懷孕史。調查結果顯示，經常看色情電視節目的青少年懷孕的機率爲那些很少看此類節目的人的兩倍。

研究負責人安妮塔•香德拉是“蘭德”非贏利性調查結構的行爲科學家，該機構爲此次研究提供資金支持。她說：“青少年從電視上得到了大量與性有關的信息，而這些電視節目很少提及性行爲的風險和責任。”

她說：“我們的調查結果表明，電視可能是造成美國青少年懷孕率居高不下的一個很重要的因素。”

研究人員稱，該研究表明，帶有色情內容的電視節目會給青少年造成這樣一種誤導：在進行性行爲時，不採取安全措施也無妨。

據美國疾病防控中心統計，美國的青少年懷孕率15年來首次增長。2006年的數據顯示，在1000名15歲至19歲的青少年中，有41.9人懷孕生產。

香德拉說：“近年來，帶有色情內容的電視節目數量翻了一番，而這些節目很少有關於安全性行爲的。”

她說，這項研究對電視媒體、家長和衛生保健機構具有一定的警示作用。

據蘭德調查機構稱，美國是發達國家中青少年懷孕率最高的國家之一，全美每年有近100萬少女懷孕，其中大多數是意外懷孕