Comparison of Sexual Behaviors among Adolescents having an Early, Middle, and Late First Intercourse Experience

Koyle, Priscilla Fay Carter; Jensen, Larry; Olsen, Joseph A.; Cundick, Bert P.

doi:10.1177/0044118x89020004005

Cited by 45 publications

(26 citation statements)

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“…Unplanned pregnancies and STDs are more common among those who begin sexual activity earlier [3]. Delaying sexual activity might therefore have important public health consequences.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Virginity Pledges Among the Willing: Delays in First Intercourse and Consistency of Condom Use

Martino

Elliott

Collins

et al. 2008

Journal of Adolescent Health

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Purpose-We examine longitudinal relationships between virginity pledging in adolescence and both sexual initiation and condom use. Prior studies have had mixed results and may not adequately control for pre-pledge differences between pledgers and non-pledgers.Methods-Data came from a national sample of 12-17 year olds surveyed in 2001 and reinterviewed 1 and 3 years later. Logistic regression models estimated the association between making a pledge and each outcome. Selection bias was reduced through propensity-score weighting and a rich set of demographic and psychosocial covariates.Results-Pledgers and non-pledgers differed substantially in pre-existing characteristics. However, after propensity-weighting and statistical controls, pledging was still associated with delayed intercourse. We estimate that in the absence of pledging 42.4% of virgins with characteristics indicating an inclination to pledge initiate intercourse within 3 years; in the presence of the pledge, 33.6%of such youth initiate intercourse. Among those who had sex during this period, pledging was unassociated with condom use. Among those who did not have sex during this period, pledging was unassociated with engagement in noncoital sexual behavior.Conclusions-Making a virginity pledge appears to be an effective means of delaying sexual intercourse initiation among those inclined to pledge without influencing other sexual behavior; pledging does not appear to affect sexual safety among pledgers who fail to remain abstinent.Nearly 800,000 teenagers become pregnant in the U.S. each year [1] and half of the approximately 19 million new STD infections diagnosed annually are among youth 15 to 24 years old [ 2]. Unplanned pregnancies and STDs are more common among those who begin sexual activity earlier [3]. Delaying sexual activity might therefore have important public health consequences.One approach to delaying sexual activity is the virginity pledge -a public declaration to abstain from sex until marriage. The first virginity pledge program was True Love Waits, founded by the Southern Baptist Church in 1993. The movement has since grown to include hundreds of churches, schools, and colleges across the country. Among adolescents in the United States, it is estimated that 23% of females and 16% of males have made a virginity pledge [4]. From a theoretical perspective, pledging may work by enhancing social norms to abstain from sex [ 5]; pledgers may believe, more so than others, that they will be held responsible to their peers or important adults to follow through on their public commitment.Correspondence regarding this manuscript can be sent to Steven C. Martino, RAND, 4570 Fifth Avenue, Suite 600, Pittsburgh, PA 15213-2665. Tel: 412-683-2300, ext. 4629. Fax: 412-683-2800 Through processes of cognitive dissonance or self-perception [6][7], pledging may also lead youth to internalize the commitment or values expressed in the pledge.Although these programs may delay sex, those who make a virginity pledge but fail to keep it may actually i...

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“…Unplanned pregnancies and STDs are more common among those who begin sexual activity earlier [3]. Delaying sexual activity might therefore have important public health consequences.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Virginity Pledges Among the Willing: Delays in First Intercourse and Consistency of Condom Use

Martino

Elliott

Collins

et al. 2008

Journal of Adolescent Health

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

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“…Each year, one case of a sexually transmitted disease (STD) is diagnosed for every four sexually active teens in the U.S. (Institute of Medicine, 1997), and the U.S. rate of teen pregnancy is among the highest of all industrialized countries (Singh & Darroch, 1999). Unplanned pregnancy and sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) are more common among those who begin sexual activity earlier (Koyle, Jensen, & Olsen, 1989).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Media Multitasking: Issues Posed in Measuring the Effects of Television Sexual Content Exposure

Collins

2008

Communication Methods and Measures

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Adolescents who see more sexual content on television are more likely to initiate intercourse over the subsequent year. The present study hypothesized that use of the internet while watching television would moderate this relationship. Internet use might either strengthen or weaken the association between television-viewing and sex; various theories conflict in their predictions. A national sample of 1,762 12-17 year olds completed a telephone survey at baseline and one year later. Using multivariate logistic regression analysis, baseline exposure to sexual content on television was used to predict intercourse initiation by follow-up among baseline virgins. The equation controlled for potentially confounding characteristics and tested for an interaction between sexual content exposure and self-reported multitasking. Half of youth reported using the internet while watching television. The interaction between multitasking and sexual content exposure was significant; exposure to sexual content on television was more strongly related to sexual initiation among multitaskers. Divided attention may allow television messages to "slip past the radar" of viewers who would reject these messages if they devoted cognitive resources to critically examining them. Media multitasking is likely to become more prevalent as new media continue to be introduced. Future studies of television-viewing effects may need to assess multitasking to avoid missing effects in this important subgroup of viewers.

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“…5 Unplanned pregnancies and STDs are more common among those who begin sexual activity earlier. 6 Therefore, early sexual initiation is an important health issue. This raises the question of why individuals become sexually involved at younger ages.…”

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confidence: 99%

Watching Sex on Television Predicts Adolescent Initiation of Sexual Behavior

et al. 2004

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ABSTRACT. Background. Early sexual initiation is an important social and health issue. A recent survey suggested that most sexually experienced teens wish they had waited longer to have intercourse; other data indicate that unplanned pregnancies and sexually transmitted diseases are more common among those who begin sexual activity earlier. The American Academy of Pediatrics has suggested that portrayals of sex on entertainment television (TV) may contribute to precocious adolescent sex. Approximately two-thirds of TV programs contain sexual content. However, empirical data examining the relationships between exposure to sex on TV and adolescent sexual behaviors are rare and inadequate for addressing the issue of causal effects.Design and Participants. We conducted a national longitudinal survey of 1792 adolescents, 12 to 17 years of age. In baseline and 1-year follow-up interviews, participants reported their TV viewing habits and sexual experience and responded to measures of more than a dozen factors known to be associated with adolescent sexual initiation. TV viewing data were combined with the results of a scientific analysis of TV sexual content to derive measures of exposure to sexual content, depictions of sexual risks or safety, and depictions of sexual behavior (versus talk about sex but no behavior).Outcome Measures. Initiation of intercourse and advancement in noncoital sexual activity level, during a 1-year period.Results. Multivariate regression analysis indicated that adolescents who viewed more sexual content at baseline were more likely to initiate intercourse and progress to more advanced noncoital sexual activities during the subsequent year, controlling for respondent characteristics that might otherwise explain these relationships. The size of the adjusted intercourse effect was such that youths in the 90th percentile of TV sex viewing had a predicted probability of intercourse initiation that was approximately double that of youths in the 10th percentile, for all ages studied. Exposure to TV that included only talk about sex was associated with the same risks as exposure to TV that depicted sexual behavior. African American youths who watched more depictions of sexual risks or safety were less likely to initiate intercourse in the subsequent year.Conclusions. Watching sex on TV predicts and may hasten adolescent sexual initiation. Reducing the amount of sexual content in entertainment programming, reducing adolescent exposure to this content, or increasing references to and depictions of possible negative consequences of sexual activity could appreciably delay the initiation of coital and noncoital activities. Alternatively, parents may be able to reduce the effects of sexual content by watching TV with their teenaged children and discussing their own beliefs about sex and the behaviors portrayed. Pediatricians should encourage these family discussions. Pediatrics 2004;114:e280 -e289. URL: http: //www.pediatrics.org/cgi/content/full/114/3/e280; condoms, media, sex, television.ABBREVIATIONS....

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Comparison of Sexual Behaviors among Adolescents having an Early, Middle, and Late First Intercourse Experience

Cited by 45 publications

References 10 publications

Virginity Pledges Among the Willing: Delays in First Intercourse and Consistency of Condom Use

Virginity Pledges Among the Willing: Delays in First Intercourse and Consistency of Condom Use

Media Multitasking: Issues Posed in Measuring the Effects of Television Sexual Content Exposure

Watching Sex on Television Predicts Adolescent Initiation of Sexual Behavior

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