Adolescent Health: Progress to Sex in New Teen Relationships Seems Determined by Gender

A study of 205 teens ages 14-19 who visited a sexual health clinic in San Francisco found that the speed at which adolescents progress to having sex seems to be determined in part by gender. All teens surveyed had sexual experience with long-term and casual partners. Teens of both genders waited less time to have sex with recent casual partners than with recent main partners, with respondents reporting the intention to delay sex with new partners for longer than they previously had. But factors influencing this decision differed by gender.

For boys, previous delays determined future delays. But the greater value boys placed on sex in a relationship, the sooner they intended to have sex with a new partner. The greater boys valued their health, the longer they intended to delay sex with a new partner.

For girls, previous behavior patterns also dictated the length of time girls would wait to have sex with a new partner. But the relationship status was more influential on their expectations of future behavior. The more a girl valued intimacy in a relationship, the longer she intended to delay having sex with a new main partner. The more a girl perceived risk that her partner had an STD, the longer she intended to delay having sex.

Health education should address, in addition to the need for safer sex, the value of sex and intimacy in relationship and offer alternative ways of being sexual and satisfying intimacy before initiating sexual intercourse, researchers concluded. That would allow adolescents of both genders to adopt healthier choices and encourage longer delays with main partners, researchers suggested. The full report, "Perceived STD Risk, Relationship, and Health Values in Adolescents' Delaying Sexual Intercourse with New Partners," was published in Sexually Transmitted Infections (2004;80(2):130-137).

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