An Experimental Study Examining the Mechanisms Underlying the Impact of Media Literacy Education on Older adolescents’ Cognitions About Risky Sexual Behaviors

Sexual media exposure is related to poorer adolescent sexual health outcomes. To address the influence of media on adolescent sexual health, programs have been developed using a media literacy education (MLE) approach designed to strengthen critical thinking about media and enhance healthy sexual decision-making. These programs have been found to impact students' critical media cognitions and sexual health outcomes; however, little is known about the mechanisms through which MLE impacts sexual health. This study uses a tightly-controlled experimental design in which adolescents were randomly assigned to an MLE-based sexual health intervention or a replica sexual health intervention without MLE to isolate the effects of MLE on adolescent outcomes. Participants completed surveys before and after their assigned intervention to assess their attitudes and normative beliefs about risky sexual behaviors. MLE favorably impacted sexual health cognitions (e.g. descriptive normative beliefs about risky sexual behaviors) by enhancing students' critical media cognitions (i.e. perceived realism of media messages). Utilizing a highly rigorous design, this study highlights the role of critical media cognitions in adolescent sexual decision making and pinpoints the advantage that MLE-based sexual health interventions have over non-MLE programs in preparing adolescents to make sexual decisions in our increasingly digital world.