03/04/2026
By Karen Mullins

The School of Criminology and Justice Studies is proud to announce a Dissertation Defense by AnaCristina Bedoya entitled: “The Kinda Shit You Get on Your TV”: The Role of Pornography Use on the Sexual Scripts and Psychological and Sexual Wellbeing of Survivors of Sexual Assault.

Date: Wednesday, March 25
Time: 9:30  -11:30 a.m.
Location: Coburn 245


Committee:

  • Neil Shortland, Chair, School of Criminology and Justice Studies, UML
  • Joseph Gonzales, Department of Psychology, UML
  • Amber Horning-Ruf, School of Criminology and Justice Studies, UML
  • Jennifer Johnson, Department of Sociology, Virginia Tech
  • Ryan Shields, School of Criminology and Justice Studies, UML

Abstract: SA is a common issue in the United States (Leemis et al., 2022) that often results in negative sexual and psychological outcomes such as distress with sex and depressive and PTSD symptoms (Dworkin et al., 2017; van Berlo & Ensink, 2000). Researchers have investigated pornography use as a contributing factor to the perpetration of SA, often theorizing that pornography changes individuals’ sexual scripts, thus influencing sexually violent behavior (Mestre-Bach et al., 2024). Among this research linking pornography use to SA, survivors’ experiences with pornography are not often explored (Shegedin et al., 2025). The current study addresses this gap in the literature by examining the relationship between pornography use and the sexual and psychological wellbeing of survivors using the same sexual scripts framework often used in research on perpetrators of SA. Results from a cross-sectional study of N=558 participants (51.5% White, 58.45% woman) revealed that substance use scripts partially mediated the relationship between pornography use frequency and sexually risky behavior. Further, individuals who experienced more severe SA (i.e., penetrative and oral SA) were more likely to report extreme pornography use, sexually risky behavior, depression and PTSD and less likely to report sexual desire. The results have implications for therapeutic and public health interventions.