Does watching bareback porn make you have risky sex?

Gay men who watch porn that includes condoms are more likely to use condoms themselves when they have sex, claims a new study.

Eric Schrimshaw, at Columbia University’s Mailman School of Public Health, and Martin J. Downing, Jr, of Public Health Solutions, said their research suggests pornography can encourage men to use condoms.

“One type of pornography was associated with higher rates of condom use – men who viewed more pornography containing condom use engaged in fewer condomless anal sex encounters,” commented Schrimshaw. “Even those who took part in compulsive pornography viewing were not more likely to engage in condomless anal sex.”

However, watching pornography containing condomless anal sex was associated with more condomless anal sex behaviours. “These findings have important policy and HIV prevention implications,” said Downing.

Nearly all (92 percent) of the men having sex with men reported viewing sexually explicit media containing condomless anal sex, and 48 percent agreed that seeing this had contributed to them engaging in riskier sex.

Viewing the explicit material led to acting out the things they saw for 70 percent; 55 percent reported that viewing sexually explicit media led them to seek out sex afterwards.

This research lends support to the argument for greater availability of sexually explicit media that contains anal sex in which condoms are clearly used by actors, noted Schrimshaw. “The potentially negative consequences on behaviour, therefore, has policy implications for pornography directors, producers, distributors, performers, and viewers.”

With the increase in condomless anal sex in Internet-based porn, the Los Angeles City Council has passed regulations mandating condom use among adult film performers for occupational safety purposes. A similar initiative will be voted on statewide in California in November 2016.

“…our finding that viewing pornography that contains condom use is associated with fewer condomless anal sex encounters suggests that pornography may have a potentially important protective function by encouraging men to use condoms,” noted the authors.

However, future research will be needed to test whether safer sex interventions using sexually explicit media in which condoms are used by performers will result in changes in condom use behaviour.

The survey’s results were based on an online survey of 265 men who have sex with men and who had viewed sexually explicit media in the past three months. The findings were published online in the journal PLOS One.