Rap music impacted sexual initiation among minority youth

Adolescent ethnic minorities who listened to rap music in seventh grade were more likely to engage in risky sexual behavior by ninth grade, a relationship significantly mediated by perceived peer sexual behavior, according to recent study data.

“Research shows that sexually explicit media — media with extreme and/or subtle references to permissive sexual behavior — impact sexual behavior among youth and that rap music is more likely than other popular music genres to contain sexually explicit content,” Kimberly A. Johnson-Baker, DrPH, from the Center for Health Prevention and Promotion Research at the University of Texas School of Public Health, and colleagues wrote.

The researchers hypothesized that seventh-graders who listened to rap music for longer periods were more likely than those who listened to less rap music or none to initiate sex by ninth grade. To further understand whether rap music directly impacted early sexual initiation, or if underlying mechanisms mediated the relationship, the investigators enrolled middle school children (n = 443) from a large southern U.S. city in a randomized controlled trial to evaluate the effectiveness of the sexual health education curriculum. The mean age of the students (42% Hispanic; 40% black; 56% female) was 13 years.

The number of daily hours listening to rap music and perceived peer sexual behavior were assessed in seventh grade, and sexual initiation (defined as “ever having sex”, ie, vaginal, oral or anal sex) was assessed 18 months later in ninth grade.

According to study results, rap music use was significantly associated with race/ethnicity, parental music rules, perceived peer sexual behavior and sexual behavior. Rap music significantly predicted sexual initiation when examined under univariate analysis, but not multivariate analysis, the researchers wrote. The Sobel test indicated that the association between hours of rap music listened to daily and sexual initiation was partially mediated by perceived peer sexual behavior.

“This finding suggests that listening to rap music does not directly influence sexual initiation,” Johnson-Baker and colleagues wrote. “Instead, youth who listen to high amounts of rap music may be more likely than those who listen to low amounts of rap music or no rap music to believe that their peers are sexually active, which, in turn, may increase their likelihood of initiating sex.”

Researchers said this partial mediation model suggests the need for further investigation of additional variables to explain the relationship between rap music use, perceived peer behavior and sexual initiation. – by Taylor Groff

Disclosure: The researchers report no relevant financial disclosures.