Teenagers in the United States have the highest rates of pregnancy, childbearing, and abortion among developed countries, and this is primarily because they do not use con­traception as reliably (Alan Guttmacher Institute, 2001a). However, data from the National Survey of Family Growth found that contraceptive use among teenagers in­creased from 1995 to 2002 (Centers for […]

Sexually active American adolescents tend to be erratic users of contraception, as are their likely role models, American adults (see Chapter 13). This may be, in part, because Americans are exposed to mixed messages about contraceptive use. Until recently, words like “condom” have been taboo on television, and contraception is not generally adver­tised in magazines […]

The National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health has found that although the re­lationship between religiosity and sexual activity is complex, in general, more religious youths tend to delay first sexual intercourse (Hardy & Raffaelli, 2003) and have fewer incidents of premarital sexual activity and fewer sexual partners (Nonnemaker et al., 2003) . This correlation may […]

In general, good parental communication, an atmosphere of honesty and openness in the home, a two-parent home, and reasonable rules about sexuality are among the most important factors associated with adolescents delaying their first intercourse. This may be attributed to the fact that close families are more likely to transmit their sexual val­ues and integrate […]

The decision to engage in sexual contact with another person is a personal one, yet it is influenced by many social factors, including peers, family, and religion. There are a num­ber of other social factors that influence sexual behavior as well, and we will discuss a few of the more important ones. Peer Influences Peer […]

Several racial and ethnic differences have been found in the age of first sexual inter­course (Blum et al., 2000). African American males were more likely to have lost their virginity and to have had more lifetime partners than were non-African American males (Ku et al., 1998). In fact, in one study the median age (or […]

Teenagers and Oral Sex ver the years there has been speculation about the increasing incidence of oral sex in the U. S. teenage population, but there have been no scientific studies to rely on for valid information. We know that Kinsey and his colleagues (1948, 1953) found that 17% of adolescents reported engaging in fellatio, […]

Adolescents may engage in a variety of sexual behaviors, including kissing, oral sex, sex­ual intercourse, anal intercourse, and homosexual sexual behaviors. Kissing and Petting Kissing and touching are the first sexual contact that most people have with potential sexual partners. Coles and Stokes (1985) reported that 73% of 13-year-old girls and 60% of 13-year-old boys […]

Masturbation is one of the most underreported sexual behaviors in adolescence. This is mainly because adolescent masturbation is a sensitive topic, and adolescents are often somewhat reluctant to admit to doing it (C. J. Halpern et al., 2000a). Masturbation dur­ing adolescence is more likely to be reported during adulthood than during adolescence itself. As boys […]