Dr. Carlo Foresta is a urology professor, president of the Italian Society of Reproductive Pathophysiology, and author of some 300 academic studies. Foresta has been investigating the effects of porn use on young people for several years. In the following 2014 lecture (pgs. 45 – 79) Foresta discusses studies and surveys showing strong relationships between porn use and sexual problems. Articles from Italian press
The Lecture – Project ANDROLIFE: Health & Sex
The lecture contains the results of longitudinal and cross-sectional studies. One study involved a survey of high school teens (pages 52-53). The study reported that sexual dysfunction doubled between 2005 and 2013, with low sexual desire increasing 600%. From the table to the right:
The percentage of teens that experienced alterations of their sexuality:
- 2004-05: 7.2%,
- 2012-13: 14.5%
The percentage of teens with low sexual desire:
- 2004-05: 1.7%,
- 2012-13: 10.3% (that’s a 600% increase in 8 years)
Foresta also mentions his upcoming study, “Sexuality media and new forms of sexual pathology sample 125 young males, 19-25 years“. Italian name – “Sessualità mediatica e nuove forme di patologia sessuale Campione 125 giovani maschi”
Below are some of the results from the study which used the International Index of Erectile Function Questionnaire to compare 4 domains of sexuality between porn users and infrequent users (pages 77-78). Dr. Foresta circled the sexual desire domain where he found that regular porn users scored 50% lower than infrequent users. So much for the claim that heavy porn uses have higher sexual desire.
Also notice the disparity in erectile function scores between porn users and non users. I’ll add that this questionnaire is not ideal, and may be understating porn’s effects as guys could still masturbate to porn for their “sexual activity”. We also don’t know if he was asking both virgins and sexually active young men, or those who were sexually active only. Obviously, most virgins don’t realize they have a sexual dysfunction until they attempt sex with a partner, so their inclusion would lower rates.
NOTE: To understand the scores in the box below, read this link: International Index of Erectile Function Questionnaire. The scores below are not percentages. Maximum scores on the items the study measured range from 30 to 10, depending upon the item. Foresta circled sexual desire highlighting
Also see this TV Interview where Dr. Foresta discuses the above findings and more
Article with Foresta
Teens regular consumers of spinels and cyber sex
- One in two regularly smoking marijuana.
- And 8 out of 10 are connected to porn sites
By Elisa Fais
December 1, 2014
Alcohol, marijuana and cyber-sex: young Paduan can not help it. New and worrying habits were photographed by the project andrology permanent “Androlife”, now running for ten years. The survey of almost 1,500 students olds revealed that over 70% had tried at least once to smoke a joint. Among these, only 40% admit to taking marijuana or hashish less than once a month, while 48% regularly and 12% daily. Ten years ago, in 2004, the frequency of intake by young people was much lower: 72% claimed to make use of soft drugs less than once a month.
Over the years remains high and the same number of young people who say they drink alcohol but doubles the number of those who like to raise the elbow on weekends.
But the youth of the third millennium, immersed in the world of technology and the web, spend hours surfing on pornographic sites to explore the little known world of sexuality. Eight out of ten teens connect to porn sites and more than half do it more than once a week. “When the frequency of access to pornographic sites become routine, 40% of young people report a change of perception in these sexual stimuli. This also results in a reduction or loss of sexual desire, “says the urologist Carlo Foresta, president of the Foundation.
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