Abstract
Gender and birth cohort differences and the influence of social background variables on the coital debut age were investigated in the general population of Norway. The data derive from a 1987 questionnaire on sexual behavior mailed to a random sample of 10,000 Norwegians of both sexes, ages 18 through 60; 63% responded to the questionnaire. 94.5% reported that they had experienced intercourse. The median coital debut age was 18.2 years. There were both cohort and gender differences. Younger cohorts have lower coital debut ages, and women younger than 35 years experienced their first intercourse at an earlier age than men in the same age group. When each independent variable was analyzed separately, there were substantial differences between educational levels and social classes with respect to age of coital debut. Multivariate analysis of six separate cohorts revealed independent effects of gender in the two youngest cohorts, whereas educational level had significant independent effects in all but the oldest cohort. Social class did not reveal any independent effect on coital debut age. Population density of the place of residence of the respondents was not substantially related to age of coital debut. Seen together, the independent variables explain about 13% of the variance in coital debut age (by multiple regression).
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Boethius, C. G., (1974).Sex and Family Planning Education, Statens offentliga utredningar, No. 59, Utbildningsdepartementet, Stockholm. (In Swedish with English summary)
Central Bureau of Statistics. (1986). Statistical Yearbook of Norway, Central Bureau of Statistics, Oslo-Kongsvinger.
Christensen, H. T., and Gregg, C. F. (1970). Changing sex norms in America and Scandinavia.J. Marr. Fam. 32: 616–627.
Cox, D. R., (1972). Regression models and life tables.J. Roy. Statist. Soc. B, 34: 187–220.
Currie, C. (1990). Young people in independent school, sexual behaviour and AIDS. In Aggleton, P., Davies P., and Hart, G. (eds.),Individual, Cultural, and Policy Dimensions Falmer Press, London, pp. 73–87.
Engen, S., and Walløe, L. (1978). Age at first intercourse. In L. Walløe, (ed.),Sexuality, Family Planning and Prevention in Norway Universitetsforlaget, Oslo. (In Norwegian)
Ford, K., Zelnik, M., and Kantner, J. F. (1981). Sexual behaviour and contraceptive use among socio-economic groups of young women in the United States.J. Biosoc. Sci. 13: 31–45.
Garde, K., and Lunde, I. (1984). Influence of social status on female sexual behaviour. A random sample study of 40-year old Danish women.Scand. J. Primary Health Care 1: 5–10.
Helm, P. (1985). Secular trend in menarche over a period of 150 years.Arch. Gynecol. 237 (Suppl. Abst. 14.79.09).
Kalbfleisch, J. D., and Prentice, R. L. (1988).The Statistical Analysis of Failure Time Data Wiley, New York.
Kantner, J. F., and Zelnik, M. (1972). Sexual experience of young unmarried women in the United States.Fam. Plann. Perspect. 4: 9–18.
Kaplan, E. L., and Meier, P., (1958). Non-parametric estimation from incomplete observations.J. Am. Statist. Assoc. 53: 457–481.
Kraft, P. (1990). Age at first experience of intercourse among Norwegian adolescents: A lifestyle prespective.Soc. Sci. Med. (in press).
Lewin, B. (1982). The adolescent boy and girl: First and other early experience with intercourse from a representative sample of Swedish school children.Arch. Sex. Behav. 11: 417–428.
Noack, T., and Østby, L. (1981).Fertility Among Norwegian Women, Central Bureau of Statistics, Oslo-Kongsvinger. (In Norwegian with English Summary)
Schmidt, G., and Sigusch, V. (1972). Changes in sexual behaviour among young males and females between 1960–1970.Arch. Sex. Behav. 2: 27–45.
Sundet, J. M., Kvalem, I. L., Magnus, P., and Bakketeig, L. S. (1988). Prevalence of risk-prone sexual behaviour in the general population of Norway. In Fleming, A.et al. (eds.),The Global Impact of AIDS, Alan R. Liss, New York.
Sundet, J. M., Magnus, P., Kvalem, I. L., and Bakketeig, L. S. (1989a). Number of sexual partners and use of condoms in the heterosexual population of Norway—relevance to HIV-infection.Health Policy 14: 1–15.
Sundet, J. M., Magnus, P., Kvalem, I. L., and Bakketeig, L. S. (1989b). Self-administered anonymous questionnaires in sexual behaviour research: The Norwegian experience. InSexual Behaviour and Risks of HIV infection. Proceedings of a Workshop Sponsored by the European Community Facultes Universitaires Saint-Louis, Brussels, Belgium.
Zelnik, M., and Shah, F. K. (1983). First intercourse among young Americans.Fam. Plann. Perspect. 15: 64–70.
Zetterberg, H. L. (1969)On the Sexual Life in Sweden, Statens offentliga utredningar, No. 2, Utbildningsdeparementet, Stockholm. (In Swedish)
Zuckerman, M. (1979).Sensation Seeking: Beyond the Optimal Level of Arousal, Erlbaum, Hillsdale, NJ.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Additional information
This project was supported by grants from the Norwegian Research Council for Science and the Humanities and by the Ministry of Health and Social Affairs.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Sundet, J.M., Magnus, P., Kvalem, I.L. et al. Secular trends and sociodemographic regularities of coital debut age in Norway. Arch Sex Behav 21, 241–252 (1992). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01542995
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01542995