Hent Medical Source

So watching Sex and the City might not be as bad for one’s health as I had previously thought. According to research carried out by scientists at Ohio State University, students who watched the HBO show were much more able to talk about intimate issues like sexual health and sexually transmitted diseases. 243 students participated and were at an average age of 20 years and this study is published in the latest edition of the Journal of Communication. The study proves that watching such shows increases the number of people talking about sexual health. Talking about it is the first step in increasing the numbers going on for chlamydia testing and taking other STD tests.

The study’s author believes that people watch such shows and model their behaviour on the characters they see. The group was divided into three and each group watched a different version of the same episode. The first episode Samantha and Miranda discuss their sex lives and behaviours with doctors, friends and partners about chlamydia and HIV. The second group’s episode involved content regarding chlamydia and HIV but did not depict the women talking about the STIs. The third film did not cover any content relating to sexually transmitted diseases.

The students completed an initial survey and 2 weeks later, an online survey where they documented the content of discussions they may have had with friends and partners regarding sexual health.

46% of the students that watched the characters openly discussing their sexual health were themselves discussing sexual health with their partners over the following 2 week period.

With the group who watched the episode covering sexual health issues but where the women were not discussing their problems, only 21% discussed sexual health with their partners over the following 2 weeks. Furthermore, only 15% of those who watched the episode with no sexual health content ended up discussing anything related to sexual health with their partners.

The author of the study described the copying of the behaviour of the characters in terms of the TV show having offered them a social script from which to talk about themselves in this way.

Perhaps these shows actually contribute to increases in chlamydia testing on campus and trips to the STD testing clinic. If going to the clinic is too much,  STD homes testing is another option.