Does Porn Harm Kids’ Mental Health? The Latest Research Parents Need to Know

When I first began writing Good Pictures Bad Pictures, I knew using porn could develop into an addiction. I knew it hurt relationships, ended marriages, and fueled child on child sexual abuse. But I didn’t realize how porn harms the mental health of children, teens, and adults. 

Now I do. 

That’s what I’m sharing with you in this article–a sampling of studies that show the mental health harms of viewing pornography. I appreciate the resources I received from Lisa Thompson, Vice President of Research at the National Center on Sexual Exploitation, and Ashlee Knapp, a Marriage and Family Therapist and published researcher who has written for Defend Young Minds on the impact of porn on childhood mental health.

Note: Research citations are linked at the end of this article. 

Porn caused depression in an 8-year-old girl

My first clue that pornography could cause depression in a child came early on in my writing process. I learned of a good mother who had told her daughter about sex and then given her an internet-connected device for her 8th birthday. The curious girl looked up the word “sex” on a browser, and then began watching pornography everyday after school. 

Once a bubbly, social girl, she became withdrawn and depressed. After several months, her mom finally discovered what she’d been watching and it made her heartsick. Thankfully, they cut off her daughter's easy access to pornography and took her to counseling where she received help and healing.

‍Porn harms kids’ mental health

Viewing pornography in childhood has several negative mental health impacts including:

• interrupting important years of cognitive child development, 
• prematurely sexualizing kids, and 
• teaching them toxic and often violent sexual scripts. 

Because kids are wired to imitate what they see adults do, viewing pornography subverts a child’s normal imitative behavior. Some states, like Utah, even define childhood exposure to pornography as a type of “hands-off” sexual abuse.

‍Numerous studies have documented additional ways in which pornography harms children’s mental health. Here are six.

1. Emotional distress: A study published in Media Psychology analyzed how different age groups respond to sexual media. It found:

• Younger viewers (ages 5-12): Often react more to surface features (e.g., nudity), and with guilt or confusion. 
• Older viewers (ages 13+): React more strongly to plot elements (e.g., rape), reporting more anger, disgust, and sadness.

2. Anxiety and fear: Viewing the values and beliefs found in pornography can lead a child to feel unsure and scared of what their own sexual experiences might look like. A report from the Australian Family Studies reports:

“Research suggests that the behaviors and practices in pornography can influence expectations about sex, e.g. what men find pleasurable, expect their partners to do and vice versa. This can be a source of anxiety and fear.”

3. Porn drives objectification and toxic sexual scripts. Researchers Levin & Kilbourne discuss the harms of body objectification in their book So Sexy So Soon:

“Pornography objectifies people (especially women) and takes sex out of the context of even the pretense of a caring relationship. It is difficult for children to unlearn these attitudes.” 

How can we hope our kids will enjoy loving sexual intimacy if pornography is the main driver of their sexual attitudes?

4. Negative body image: Research by Dohut and Tiggemann discovered:

“[y]oung girls begin to internalize messages from the media regarding their body as young as the age of 7 years old.” And a study on the effects of internet sex published in the Journal of Sex Research noted that “[b]ody objectification can lead to eating disorders and other mental health issues.” 

5. Self-objectification and emotional consequences. Researchers Levin and Kilbourne explain,

“The Report of the APA (American Psychological Association) Task Force on the Sexualization of Girls, ... reviewed over three hundred studies and concluded that exposure to sexualized images, lyrics, fashion, role models, and other pop-culture influences made girls think of and treat their own bodies as sexual objects. Other research has found that this self-objectification...has a host of negative emotional consequences, such as depression, shame and anxiety...It can also lead to feelings of disgust about one’s body. Indeed, hating one’s body is normal for teenage girls these days…--and is increasingly normal for little girls.”

6. Porn fuels child on child sexual abuse: Ashlee Knapp, LAMFT, explains,

"Instead of processing difficult experiences through talking, children use play. If a child views pornography and is struggling to make sense of it, they will likely begin mimicking the actions they saw through their play at home or school. They might begin performing sexual acts on toys, on other children, drawing pictures of the acts, and more." 

A 2019 study found that youth who experienced offender-to-victim fondling were less likely to disclose problematic sexual behavior (PSB), while children exposed to pornography were more likely to report PSB. This study suggests that pornography is a stronger driver of PSB than hands-on sexual abuse.

Related: The 3 Big Red Flags of Sexual Abuse

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Porn harms middle school and high school students’ mental health

Research indicates early exposure to pornography can have long-lasting mental health impacts including:

‍1. Lower self-esteem: The 2023 UK Children’s Commissioners Report on young people and pornography noted that self-esteem was more negatively impacted when they started looking at porn at a young age:

“Of those who had watched online pornography, young people who first watched pornography aged 11 or younger were significantly more likely to present lower self-esteem scores than those who first watched pornography aged 12 or over.” 

2. Depression: A study following 1,401 Chinese youth over three years found an association between early, intentional exposure to pornography and depressive symptoms during adolescence.

3. Vicious cycle of porn use and poor mental health: Research on 251 Dutch boys (ages 11-17) showed that boys with depression or anxiety were more likely to use pornography compulsively. This behavior often worsened their symptoms, creating a cycle of negative emotions and increased use.

4. Recent mental health problems: An Australian study of 942 participants ages 15-29 showed an association between porn use and recent mental health problems. “Compared to those with no recent mental health problems, those with recent mental health problems were more likely to be moderate to frequent pornography users. Those who first started viewing pornography at a younger age were also more likely to report experiencing a mental health problem within the past six months.”

5. Increased risk of suicide: A survey of 45,000 Korean students (ages 12-18) found that frequent internet pornography use was linked to higher rates of sadness, suicidal thoughts, and suicide attempts, even when considering factors like age, gender, and family environment.

Related: Teens, Porn and Mental Health: Smith Alley’s Pathway to Recovery

Contradictory findings and methodological issues

Some Swedish studies found little to no relationship between pornography use and mental health issues. However, these studies had significant methodological flaws:

• They did not guarantee anonymity for participants.
• They focused on short-term recall (e.g., the past one or two weeks) instead of longer-term patterns (six months or more).
• They did not differentiate between intentional and unintentional exposure, which has been shown to influence outcomes in other studies. 

Deviant porn associated with poor mental health: Despite these flaws the Swedish studies report “the most consistent finding was that having ever watched deviant pornography (i.e., sex with violence or force, sex between adults and children, and sex with animals) was associated with poorer mental health, the finding being stronger among boys than girls.” 

Porn harms young adults’ and adults’ mental health

1. Loneliness: A 2017 study published in the Journal of Sex & Marital Therapy found a positive and significant association between loneliness and viewing pornography. Among 1,247 participants seeking help for pornography use, those who viewed pornography were more likely to experience loneliness, and that those who were experiencing loneliness were more likely to view pornography. 

2. Relationship problems: A large U.S. study looked at two key indicators for relationship health: satisfaction and stability. It reported:

“Results suggested that both general and aggressive pornography use alone were associated with less relationship satisfaction and relationship stability even when accounting for a range of potentially confounding variables.”

3. Depression, anxiety and stress: A U.S. survey of 1,031 university students found severe levels of depression, anxiety, and stress among those who reported compulsive pornography use. The study also noted:

• Porn users often preferred viewing porn over spending time with friends, leading to social impairments. 
• Preoccupation with porn leads to neglecting daily obligations and work. 
• Viewing porn when lonely predicted all three mental health concerns–depression, anxiety and stress.

4. Negative mental and physical health: A study conducted by the Center for Disease Control and other organizations surveyed 559 adults from the Seattle-Tacoma, Washington region. It found that users of sexually explicit media (i.e., sexually explicit images, videos, and/or chat rooms) experienced: 

• increased symptoms of depression,
• more frequent mental and physical health days per month, 
• lower health status, and 
• poorer quality of life. 

5. Severe psychological distress: A 2022 online survey of 1,539 German-speaking porn users, 18-76, found that participants with problematic pornography use scored significantly worse in every measure of psychological functioning considered, including: 

• somatization, 
• obsessive-compulsive behavior, 
• interpersonal sensitivity, 
• depression, 
• anxiety, 
• hostility, 
• phobic anxiety, 
• paranoid ideation, and 
• psychoticism.

The results were elevated to a clinically relevant degree when compared to the general population. The study authors characterized the intensity of these problems as “severe psychological distress.”

6. Dysfunctional coping strategies: A Swiss study of 5,332 men found that pornography users were more likely to report:

• reliance on dysfunctional coping strategies,
• personality traits such as neuroticism-anxiety, aggression-hostility, and sensation-seeking behavior, and
• lower likelihood of using pornography among those with higher sociability.

Related: How Porn Corrupts the Brain’s Reward System: Neurosurgeon Explains

Resources for prevention and treatment

Educating children is a key step in addressing a society’s mental health challenges. Here are the resources I and my Defend Young Minds team have developed for helping children avoid mental health problems related to porn use and exposure.

Science-based books for children

Both Good Pictures Bad Pictures read-aloud books help children reject pornography by giving them a definition, a warning, and a plan. Kids who are caught off guard can be easily pulled into pornography by peer pressure and their own curiosity. When kids are educated to recognize, reject and report porn exposure, they have a real choice to protect their young minds.

Clay Olsen, Co-founder of Fight the New Drug says,

“Reading and implementing Good Pictures Bad Pictures with your kids isn’t an option: it’s a necessity.”

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‍Good Pictures Bad Pictures: Porn Proofing Today's Young Kids

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‍Good Pictures Bad Pictures Jr.: A Simple Plan to Defend Young Minds

‍Free Bonus! 

If you already own a copy of Good Pictures Bad Pictures Jr.: A Simple Plan to Defend Young Minds, you can access a Play Guide developed by play therapists. It reinforces concepts taught in the book and helps children “forget” bad pictures they may see. Just scan the QR on page 32.

Clinically-tested Guidebook for therapists

The Good Pictures Bad Pictures Guidebook for Counseling Kids is a powerful tool for mental health professionals who counsel children or parents. This companion guidebook includes 15 artistic, didactic, and kinesthetic interventions that are each completely and clearly explained with tips for special use cases. All interventions are research based and therapist-tested in a clinical setting. 

Good Pictures Bad Pictures Guidebook for Counseling Kids

Each intervention is organized with 3 sections:

• Explanation: Outlines the reasoning and supporting research
• Intervention: describes the intervention techniques and activities and provides examples
• Considerations for use: tips for adapting methods based on child traits and circumstances

“Good Pictures Bad Pictures Guidebook for Counseling Kids provides simple interventions for addressing the difficult topic of pornography with ease in your daily practice. Using this book has been very beneficial for me and my clients.” -Ashley Wroton, Ed.S., LPC, RPT

The Guidebook includes lists under the following categories:

• Kids not exposed to porn or sexual trauma
• Kids who have been exposed to porn
• Kids who struggle with addiction
• Kids with family members who struggle with addiction
• Kids with trauma history

“For any mental health professional helping children overcome exposure to or use of pornography, I highly recommend the Guidebook! The suggested exercises are well thought out, simple yet profound. I personally feel much more empowered to help struggling children and their families navigate these challenging experiences.” - Melea Stephens, LPC, MMFT  

Take action today against the mental health harms of pornography

The evidence is clear: pornography poses severe and lasting negative mental health impacts across all age groups. 

We need to act now. Prevention begins with education—teach your children to recognize, reject, and report pornography. Our resources, like Good Pictures Bad Pictures and the Guidebook for Counseling Kids, provide practical tools for families and professionals alike to tackle these issues today.

Want to dive deeper? Download our annotated list of citations here.

Help spread awareness about how pornography harms mental health—share this article with your community.