Is pornography a risk for adolescent academic achievement? findings from two longitudinal studies of male adolescents

A recent longitudinal study reported a negative association between the use of sexually explicit materials (SEM) and academic achievement among early adolescent Belgian boys. Given that academic achievement is related to the attainment of future educational and professional goals, these results suggest that SEM use may have long-term adverse outcomes. To explore whether the same effect persists in middle adolescence, the present study used two independent longitudinal samples of Croatian male adolescents (Rijeka: n = 355, Mage = 15.9 at baseline; and Zagreb: n = 205, Mage = 16.1 at baseline). Following the original study, the target association was explored using path analysis. SEM use did not predict a change in students’ academic performance in either panel. However, a negative baseline association between the use of online social networking sites and school grades was significant across panels. The failure to replicate the findings reported by the Belgian longitudinal study indicates that the association between SEM use and boys’ academic achievement, if it exists, does not extend to middle adolescence.