Abstract
Early initiation of sexual activity is aconcern, in part because of increased risk of sexuallytransmitted diseases, including HIV, and unwantedpregnancies among young people. In this study, 241 high schoolers were administered a questionnaire toestablish the relationships between age at first sexualintercourse and personal qualities (sexual style,attractiveness, physical maturity, restraint, autonomy expectations, and attitudes to gender roles),smoking and drug use, and aspects of the social context(social activities, media impact, peer norms). Therewere few effects of sex of respondent and none in which respondents' sex impacted on age ofinitiation. Overall (and among the male sample),perceptions of greater physical maturity, greater use ofuncommon (mostly illicit) drugs, and expectations of earlier autonomy significantly differentiatedbetween early and later initiators. This group offactors tends to confirm the view that early experienceof sexual intercourse is correlated with problembehaviors and a press toward “adult”behaviors. For girls, this pattern was even clearer,with use of uncommon drugs being replaced as asignificant contributor to early sexual experience byrelative lack of restraint. We conclude that the desire to achieve thetransition to adulthood at an earlier age than theirpeers constitutes a powerful incentive for young peopleto become sexually active.
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Rosenthal, D.A., Smith, A.M.A. & De Visser, R. Personal and Social Factors Influencing Age at First Sexual Intercourse. Arch Sex Behav 28, 319–333 (1999). https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1018796612231
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1018796612231