Entertaining Safe Sex
The goal the Entertaining Safe Sex project is to develop web-series that can be used to demonstrate effective and ineffective sexual decision-making in adolescents. By modeling healthy and unhealthy behaviors and by encouraging deeper cognitive processing through active, rather than passive viewing, this intervention tool will enable teens to create new, positive sexual scripts that can be referenced when they are facing similar sexual situations.
The scenarios presented in the web series are fact-based, and are adapted from the real life experiences of middle school youth who have been sharing their life experiences during focus groups. The video is being developed with the help of a team of talented and experienced screenwriters, an award-winning media production team.
Once the video is complete, a pilot study will be conducted to determine if adolescents who are exposed to the video report more accurate sexual health information, less permissive sexual attitudes, and less risky sexual behaviors immediately, three months, and six months following exposure than adolescents in the control condition.
Student researchers participating in this project will have the opportunity to conduct extensive literature reviews, assist with the development and production of the video, and conduct the pilot test of the videos administration. Publication opportunities will be available following the initial administration of the video.
Sexy Media Matters
This project examines whether exposure to stereotypical sexual imagery in music videos is associated with differential brain activation and physiological responsiveness in men and women as compared to exposure to neutral and/or non-stereotypical sexual imagery; and whether this reactivity is associated with sexual attitudes and sexual behaviors. Measurements will be taken of participants EEG, heart rate, and galvanized skin responses during exposure to a block of music video clips ranging from neutral to stereotypically sexual in content. This the one of the first studies to examine neurophysiological responses associated with viewing stereotypical sexual content in music videos .
