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Social Factors Associated with Readiness for Sexual Activity in Adolescents: A Population-Based Cohort Study

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Abstract

Various factors are associated with sexual activity in adolescence and it is important to identify those that promote healthy and adaptive romantic and sexual development. The objectives of this study were to describe rates of early sexual intercourse (before 16 years) and sexual readiness in adolescence and to assess the extent to which these were social patterned. We prospectively studied nearly 5,000 15-year-olds from the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children, a UK birth cohort. Between 2006 and 2008, female and male participants answered a computer assisted interview about romantic and sexual behaviors in the last year. Predictors of sexual intercourse and readiness for sexual intercourse were examined across a range of sociodemographic measures. Overall, 17.7 % (95 % CI 16.7 %, 18.9 %) of participants reported having had sexual intercourse in the last year, with more girls than boys reporting sexual experience (risk ratio 1.30, 95 % CI 1.15, 1.47). Of these, one-third of both male and female were classed as unready because they were unwilling, lacking in autonomy, felt regret or had not used contraception. There was strong evidence of social patterning for sexual activity with higher rates for young people from poorer homes, with lower social class, and with younger, less educated mothers. In contrast, among 860 young people who had had sexual intercourse, there was no clear evidence of associations between social factors and sexual readiness. The lack of social patterning in sexual readiness supports the provision of comprehensive education to develop life skills for adolescents across all social groups.

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Acknowledgments

This research was funded by the Economic and Social Research Council UK to study the Impact of Family Socioeconomic Status on Outcomes in Childhood and Adolescence (PI, Paul Gregg; grant RES-060-23-0011). We are extremely grateful to all the families who took part in this study, the midwives for their help in recruiting them, and the whole ALSPAC team, which includes interviewers, computer and laboratory technicians, clerical workers, research scientists, volunteers, managers, receptionists and nurses. The UK Medical Research Council (Grant: 74882) the Wellcome Trust (Grant: 076467), and the University of Bristol provide core support for ALSPAC. This publication is the work of the authors and Jon Heron and Andrea Waylen will serve as guarantors for the contents of this article. Preliminary data for this paper were reported at the 20th World Congress for Sexual Health in Glasgow in June 2011. The authors have no conflict of interest to declare.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Social and Community Medicine, University of Bristol, Oakfield House, Oakfield Grove, Clifton, Bristol, BS8 2BN, UK

    Jon Heron, Glyn Lewis & John Macleod

  2. Institute of Social and Preventive Medicine, University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland

    Nicola Low

  3. School of Oral and Dental Sciences, University of Bristol, Bristol, UK

    Andy Ness & Andrea Waylen

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  1. Jon Heron
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Correspondence to Jon Heron.

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Heron, J., Low, N., Lewis, G. et al. Social Factors Associated with Readiness for Sexual Activity in Adolescents: A Population-Based Cohort Study. Arch Sex Behav 44, 669–678 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10508-013-0162-5

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10508-013-0162-5

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