Jay's World of Abstracts

Jay's World of Abstracts 00032

Jay's Introduction

In the discussion of teen pregnancy, we commonly only really talk about teens who are 15 years old or older, probably because this is the point at which statistics start being kept on fertility. Now, there are a few studies, mentioned here, that looked a bit deeper and got some data that addressed the sexual activities of pre-teens. I didn't find anything particularly new here, but it certainly strenthened my resolve to try to do something positive in this arena.

Abstracts

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• Sexual Experience
  • Approximately one in five adolescents has had sexual intercourse before his or her 15th birthday.
  • Boys age 14 and younger are slightly more likely to have had sex than girls the same age.
• Frequency of Sex
  • A substantial proportion of teens age 14 and younger who have had sex are not currently sexually active.
  • According to one of the national surveys (NLSY), approximately half of sexually experienced 14-year-olds have had sex 0-2 times in the past 12 months.
• Contraceptive Use
  • Between half and three-quarters of youth age 12-14 report that they used contraception the first time they had sex.
  • Slightly more than half of girls age 12-14 and about two thirds of boys say they used some form of contraception the most recent time they had sex.
• Pregnancy
  • Approximately one in seven sexually experienced 14-year-old girls reports having been pregnant.
• Dating
  • A significant proportion of those age 12-14 report having been on a date (two-fifths in the NLSY survey) or having a romantic relationship in the past 18 months (half in Add Health).
  • Significant minorities of youth age 14 and under report a romantic relationship with someone three or more years older (girls far more than boys).
  • Relationships with a significantly older partner -- compared with those with someone only slightly older, the same age, or younger -- are much more likely to be sexual.
• Pressure
  • More than one in ten girls who first have had sex before age 15 describe it as non-voluntary and many more describe it as relatively unwanted.
• Other Risky Behavior
  • Sexually experienced youth age 14 and younger are much more likely to smoke, use drugs and alcohol, and participate in delinquent activities than youth who have not had sex.
• Parents
  • In general, parents report talking a moderate amount with their children age 12-14 about sex and related issues, although their children recall less communication than the parents claim.
  • Parents are more likely to have spoken with their daughters than with their sons about sex and related issues.
  • Parents tend to be unaware of what their children are actually doing sexually -- only about a third of parents of sexually experienced 14-year-olds know that their child has had sex.