Premarital Sex

Abstract

Premarital sex refers to sexual behavior practiced prior to marriage, typically in the sexual lives of adolescents and young adults. Research in this area has also addressed attitudes regarding premarital sex (i.e., permissiveness) and behavioral links to negative public health outcomes, such as unwanted pregnancy and infection. More recent approaches emphasize the positive components of premarital sex, placing it more directly in the context of normative healthy development. Premarital sex varies notably in terms of age of onset, patterns and progression of sexual behavior, and degree of sexual competence. Considerable research attention has been given to premarital sex in casual relationship contexts, as well as new forms of sexual exchange using digital communication.