Why Is Sexuality an

Adolescent Issue?
 After puberty, there are changes in
the nature and meaning of sexual
behavior
 Sexual activity can now lead to
pregnancy
 Adolescent sexuality is also
influenced by
 Emerging cognitive capabilities
(introspection and reflection about
sexual behavior)
 Concerns about new social roles (new
meaning given to sexual behavior like
“playing doctor”)

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 CHAPTER 6
Sexuality in Adolescence

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Three levels of sexual permissiveness

 1. Restrictive Societies

 2. Semi-restrictive Societies

 3. Permissive Societies

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 How Sexually Permissive
Is Contemporary Society?
 Sexually Restrictive Societies
 Discontinuous transition
 Pressure to refrain from sexual activity
until they have undergone a formal rite of
passage or have married
 Many pursue sex in secrecy because of
this pressure
 Sometimes, males and females are
separated throughout childhood and
adolescence

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 How Sexually Permissive Is
Contemporary Society?
 Semi-Restrictive Societies
 Sexual activity among adolescents frowned on but
prohibitions are not consistently enforced
 Premarital promiscuity is common
 Parents don’t object as long as love affairs are kept
secret
 Premarital pregnancy is objectionable and may
result in adolescents’ being forced to marry

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 How Sexually Permissive
Is Contemporary Society?
 Permissive Societies
 Highly continuous transition into sexual
activity, begins in childhood
 Children openly masturbate
 Imitate adult intercourse
 Seeking privacy to engage in sex play is
approved of by adults

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 Sexual Activity During
Adolescence
 Adolescents likely to be serial monogamists
 Having a series of sexual partners over time, but
remaining monogamous within each relationship
 Stages of Sexual Activity
 Autoerotic behavior – sexual behavior that is experienced
alone (e.g., having erotic fantasies, masturbation,
nocturnal orgasms)
 By high school, transition to sexual activity involving
another person
 Although most adolescents follow predictable pattern of sexual
stages, African Americans may actually skip some of the steps
 May help explain ethnicity differences in rates of teenage
pregnancies 7

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 Sexual Activity During
Adolescence
 Sexual Intercourse
During Adolescence
 By the end of
sophomore year of high
school, more than 40%
have had heterosexual
vaginal intercourse
 For many girls (~30%),
the first sexual
experience is not
voluntary
8

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Ethnic Differences in Age of
Sexual Initiation For Males
Average Age of
First Intercourse

African-American Males 15 years

Hispanic-American and White Males 16.5 years

Asian-American Males 18 years

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The Timing of Sexual Initiation
 Adolescents are more
likely to lose their virginity
during certain times of
the year
 June and December are
peak months
 May, June, July common
regardless of romantic
involvement (prom,
graduation)
 Holiday season in
December is peak time for
serious relationships 10

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 Changes in Adolescent
Sexual Activity Over Time
 The percentage of sexually
active adolescents increased
during 1970s and 80s,
decreased slightly from 1995
to 2001
 One-third of adolescents have
early sexual intercourse
(before ninth grade)
 Greatest increase in
prevalence of premarital
intercourse has been among
females 11

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 Sexually Active Adolescents
 Psychological/Social Characteristics of Sexually
Active Adolescents
 Sexual activity during adolescence (age 16 or later)
 Is not associated with psychological disturbance
 Levels of self-esteem and life satisfaction are similar to other
adolescents’
 However, early sexual activity (before age 16) has negative
correlates like:
 Experimentation with drugs and alcohol
 Lower levels of religious involvement
 Higher tolerance of deviant behavior
 Lower interest in academic achievement
 Higher orientation toward independence
12

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 What Influences
Sexual Activity?
 Hormones are especially important for boys
 Testosterone surge sparks initial interest in sex for boys
and girls (girls are also influenced by estrogens)
 Boys who are more popular with girls and mature earlier
tend to initiate sex earlier than unpopular boys
 Biological factors have a very strong influence on boys’
sexual behavior
 Context is especially important for girls
 The most important predictor of girls’ involvement in
sexual intercourse is whether their friends are doing it or
have sexually permissive attitudes
13

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 Parental Influences
on Sexual Activity
 Authoritative parenting is associated with
adolescents who are
 Less likely to become sexually active at an early age
 Less likely to engage in risky sexual activity
 Parent-adolescent communication about sex
 Stops them from engaging in risky sexual behaviors, but
does little to prevent them from being sexually active in
general

14

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 Peer Influences
on Sexual Behavior
 Having sexually active
peers establishes a
normative standard
that having sex is
okay
 Peers also can
communicate directly
about sex, with friends
or with potential
partners
 Risk factors for sexual
activity are cumulative 15

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 What Does Sex Mean
to Boys and Girls?
 Boys are…
 More likely to keep matters of sex and intimacy separate
 More likely to have experienced orgasm through masturbation
 More likely to interpret intercourse in terms of recreation than
intimacy
 Girls are…
 More likely to integrate sexual activity into an existing
capacity for intimacy and emotional involvement
 More likely to take the view that sex is combined with
romance, love, friendship, and intimacy
 More likely to feel conflicted afterward because of societal
pressures and worries about pregnancy

16

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 Homosexuality
in Adolescence
 About 4% of adolescents identify
as gay, lesbian, or bisexual (~
8% in adulthood)
 Confusion is common about
 Sexual orientation – extent to which an
individual is oriented toward
heterosexual, homosexual, or bisexual
activity
 Sex-role behavior – extent to which an
individual behaves in traditionally
masculine or feminine ways
 Gender identity – which gender an
individual believes he/she is

17

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 Sexual Harassment, Rape,
and Sexual Abuse
 Date Rape – being forced
to have sex by a date
 Sexual harassment is
widespread in American
public schools
 Adolescents are abused
and neglected at higher
rates than children
 Victims are
disproportionately female
and poor 18

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 Contraceptive Use Among
Sexually Active Adolescents
 Many adolescents fail to
use contraception
regularly
 Although rates have
improved since 1970s,
~40% of high school
students did not use a
condom the most recent
time they had sex
 Contraception may not
be readily available for
all adolescents
19

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 When Is the Risk of
Pregnancy Greatest?
 Many adolescents
report using the
withdrawal or
rhythm methods of
contraception, two
of the least effective
ways to prevent
pregnancy

20

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 AIDS and Other Sexually
Transmitted Diseases
 STDs can be caused by viruses, bacteria, or
parasites that are transmitted through sexual contact
 Bacteria – Gonorrhea and Chlamydia
 Virus – Herpes and Human Papilloma Virus
 Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS) is
caused by the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)
and interferes with the body’s immune system
 Condoms and education are best prevention tools
 Programs must focus on the benefits of condom use rather
than costs of not using them
 Knowledge of risks alone is not sufficient to keep
adolescents from risky behaviors 21

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 Teenage Pregnancy
and Childbearing
 Nearly one-third of
American women become
pregnant by age 20
 Not all pregnancies result in
childbirth (~30% are
aborted, ~15% miscarry)
 5% American teen births
result in adoptions
 America’s teen birth rate
is higher than all other
industrialized countries 22

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 What Causes Teen
Pregnancy?
 The most important difference between teens
who become pregnant and those who do not
is contraceptive use
 85% of teen pregnancies are unintended, but
those who are less troubled by the prospect of
having a baby at a young age are more likely
to use contraceptives ineffectively
 Ambitious, well-educated, middle- to upper-
class women who live in wealthier areas are
more likely to terminate an unwanted
pregnancy 23

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 Teen Pregnancy:
The Role of The Father
 Teen fathers are likely
 To have problems with self-
esteem, school, work, aggression,
drugs, and alcohol
 To have fathered a child
previously
 To experience adverse effects on
mental health and educational
development (more likely among
white and Hispanic men than
African-American men)
 To receive little support or help in
becoming responsible parents 24

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 Consequences for Children
of Teen Mothers
 Environment of single parenthood and
poverty are more harmful than mother’s
relative youth for child development
 However, adolescent mothers may perceive
their babies as being more difficult and have
problems interacting with them
 Mothers who were more intelligent and
better adjusted before the birth of their
infant have greater parenting skills later
25

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 Teen Pregnancy
Prevention Programs

 Abstinence-only programs were emphasized in 1990s at

expense of other sex education
 A combination of school-based sex ed and community-based
clinics seems to be most promising in preventing teen
pregnancies
 Must motivate teens to use the available resources
26

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