Survey: Religion Affects Teen Sex

A new survey and report, commissioned by the National Campaign to Prevent Teen Pregnancy, found that teens say morals, values and religion -- not just AIDS and pregnancy -- play a major role in their decisions about sex. The survey of 502 teens, conducted Sept. 5-9, also found that half of teens said their parents were most influential in decisions about sex, three times the number who cited friends. In 1997, the most recent year for which pregnancy data are available, about 9.4 percent of all girls ages 15 to 19 became pregnant.

"Preventing teen pregnancy is as much about moral and religious values as it is about public health," said the report being released today. "Teens, like adults, make decisions about their sexual behavior based in part on their values about what is right and wrong, what is proper and what is not." Among girls ages 15 to 17, some 6.4 percent were pregnant in 1997, down 21 percent since the peak in 1990. The campaign also released a review of the research on religion and teen sex, which finds that more religious teens are more likely to wait until they are older to have sex. But the research also suggests that once religious teens do have sex, they are less likely to use contraception. The review of research on teen sex and religion examined 50 studies and concluded the existing research is "surprisingly weak."

Back to other CDC news for September 25, 2001

Previous Updates