Adolescent heterosexual experience: A new typology

doi:10.1016/S1054-139X(96)00182-6

Journal of Adolescent Health

Volume 20, Issue 3, March 1997, Pages 179-186

https://doi.org/10.1016/S1054-139X(96)00182-6 Get rights and content

Purpose:

The purpose of this paper is to define a typology that encompasses the full range of adolescent heterosexual behavior; to compare the usefulness of the new typology with that of the traditional dichotomy of “sexually active”/“sexually inactive” for understanding sexual behavior among adolescents; and to determine the implications of the new typology for the design and implementation of HIV prevention programs targeting adolescents.

Methods:

Detailed face-to-face interviews were conducted with a cross-sectional sample of 907 mothers and their adolescents, ages 14–17 years, recruited from public high schools in Alabama, New York, and Puerto Rico. Information from the adolescent survey on precoital sexual behaviors and STD/HIV sexual risk and risk reduction behaviors was examined. A typology of adolescent heterosexual experiences was constructed using four behavioral dimensions.

Results:

Ninety-nine percent (n = 894) of the sample was classified into one of the five patterns of sexual experience: Delayers, Anticipators, One-timers, Steadies, and Multiples. Among the participants who were not sexually active, precoital behaviors differed significantly between the 22% who anticipated initiating sexual intercourse in the next year (Anticipators) and those who did not (Delayers). Among those traditionally classified as “sexually active”, One-timers and Steadies were significantly older when they first had penile-vaginal intercourse than those who had multiple partners. One-timers were more likely to use condoms than Steadies or Multiples, and only Multiples reported previous STDs.

Conclusion:

A typology that defines a range of adolescent heterosexual experiences was developed, and it was possible to classify 99% of our sample. The traditional dichotomy between “sexually active” vs. “not active” hides important behavioral intentions and sexual practices. These differences must be taken into account in the development and implementation of HIV prevention programs that target adolescents.

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Sexuality in adolescent: counseling
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La adolescencia es una etapa de la vida durante la cual se desarrolla la identidad sexual. En este período muchas ado- lescentes inician su actividad sexual. Por ello, es de vital im- portancia entregarles consejería, que debe considerar pre- vención de embarazo e infecciones de transmisión sexual, prevención de conductas de riesgo y favorecer la adquisición de conductas protectoras. El objetivo del presente artículo es entregar una propuesta de consejería integral enfocada en adolescentes. Está dirigido a los profesionales de la salud que tienen el enorme desafío y la responsabilidad de prevenir el embarazo no planificado y las infecciones de transmisión sexual; y apoyar a los adolescentes en el desarrollo de una sexualidad sana.
The adolescence is a stage of life where sexual identity develops. In this period many teenagers become sexually active, so it is vital counseling in pregnancy prevention and sexuality transmitted diseases, as well as in risk behavior, creating in the adolescents the acquisition of protective behaviors. The aim of this article is to provide a proposal for comprehensive counseling adolescents to health professionals that works with them and have the enormous challenge and responsibility not only in pregnancy prevention as well as sexually transmitted disease, also in helping adolescents in the developing of a healthy sexuality.
Approach to adolescence sexuality
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La sexualidad es una faceta de la identidad y el desarrollo sexual saludable es un objetivo importante de la adolescencia. Las decisiones que están asociadas al desarrollo sexual adolescente, tienen a menudo importantes implicancias para la salud y la educación, así como para las relaciones actuales y futuras.
La mayoría de los jóvenes inicia su vida sexual en la adolescencia, logra evitar embarazos no deseados e infecciones de transmisión sexual y desarrolla relaciones saludables respetuosas y comprometidas. Sin embargo, comparados a otros grupos de edad, los adolescentes tienen tasas desproporcionadamente altas de morbilidades derivadas de la conducta, incluyendo infecciones de transmisión sexual y embarazos no deseados. Los jóvenes que no adscriben a las normas socioculturales de expresión sexual y de género, tienen riesgos adicionales para su salud física, emocional y social.
Los clínicos que atienden adolescentes necesitan saber sobre el desarrollo general y psicosexual del adolescente, las tendencias que rodean sus conductas sexuales, los beneficios y riesgos que acompañan a estas conductas y los recursos y las intervenciones que están disponibles. La información que ofrezcan debe ser precisa, completa y libre de prejuicios, para que puedan tomar decisiones saludables y seguras.
Sexuality is an aspect of identity, and healthy sexual development is an important goal of adolescence. Decisions that are associated with adolescent sexual development often have important implications for health and education, as well as for current and future relationships.
Most young people initiate sexual activity in adolescence, prevent unwanted pregnancies and sexually transmitted infections and develop respectful and healthy relationships. However, compared to other age groups, teens have disproportionately high rates of morbidity resulting from behavior, including sexually transmitted infections and unwanted pregnancies. Youth who do not ascribe to the cultural norms of sexual expression and gender have additional risks to their physical, emotional and social health.
Clinicians need to know about adolescent general and psychosexual development, trends surrounding their sexual behaviors, benefits and risks associated with these behaviors, and resources and interventions that are available. The information they provide must be accurate, complete, and unbiased, so teens can make healthy and safe decisions.
Family and peer support matter for precoital and coital behaviors among adolescents in Lima
2014, Journal of Adolescence
Citation Excerpt :
However, accompanying practices such as non-use of condoms is both unhealthy and negative. In other contexts, precoital behaviors have been found to predict sexual initiation (Miller et al., 1997). Additionally, in past studies in Peru, condom use was low, at 26–38% (Cáceres, 1999; Magnani et al., 2001) and in this study, condom use at first sex was similarly low (32%).
We analyzed the association between sub-scales developed with adolescents and the outcomes of precoital behaviors and vaginal sex in Lima, Peru. Adolescent participants in key informant sessions operationalized concepts identified during qualitative concept mapping into several sub-scales. Face and content validity testing and pilot application with respondent debriefing were used to refine the sub-scales. Three hundred 15–17 year olds were surveyed about the sub-scales, socio-demographics and sexual behaviors. Exploratory factor analysis confirmed six sub-scales, self-image, goals and decision-making, family education, parental rules/control, school support and peer support, which we regressed on the outcomes. Twice as many males as females reported more than three precoital behaviors and vaginal sex. Higher peer support reduced the likelihood of vaginal sex and precoital behaviors and higher family education reduced precoital behaviors. Results affirm the importance of including adolescents in the entire research process and of sex education with family- and peer-based strategies.
Brief report: Parsing the heterogeneity of adolescent girls' sexual behavior: Relationships to individual and interpersonal factors
2011, Journal of Adolescence
Clusters of pre-sexual and sexual behaviors were identified in an urban US sample of 546 mid-adolescent girls. No distinct group of girls engaging in sexually risky behavior was revealed. Sexually active girls were older, lived with a single parent, and reported more substance use and depression, but similar levels of conduct problems, impulsivity and deviant peers to girls engaging in pre-sexual behavior.
It's Your Game: Keep It Real: Delaying Sexual Behavior with an Effective Middle School Program
2010, Journal of Adolescent Health
Citation Excerpt :
Secondary outcome measures examined the impact of the intervention on (1) delayed initiation of specific types of sex (oral, vaginal, anal); (2) delayed sexual initiation by gender and racial/ethnicity; and (3) reduced risk behavior at the ninth-grade follow-up for those who reported being sexually active in the last 3 months. Additional endpoints were assessed for sexually active students All sexual behavior measures were adapted from existing surveys and extensively pilot tested among urban middle school populations [20–23]. Psychosocial variables based on social cognitive theories were also assessed, using measures adapted from existing surveys and extensively pilot tested [9,20,21,24,25].
This study tested the effects of a theory-based, middle-school human immunodeficiency virus, STI, and pregnancy prevention program, It's Your Game: Keep it Real (IYG), in delaying sexual behavior. We hypothesized that the IYG intervention would decrease the number of adolescents who initiated sexual activity by the ninth grade compared with those in the comparison schools.
The target population consisted of English-speaking middle school students from a large, urban, predominantly African-American and Hispanic school district in Southeast Texas. Ten middle schools were randomly assigned either to receive the intervention or to the comparison condition. Seventh-grade students were recruited and followed through ninth grade. The IYG intervention comprises 12 seventh-grade and 12 eighth-grade lessons that integrate group-based classroom activities with computer-based instruction and personal journaling. Ninth-grade follow-up surveys were completed by 907 students (92% of the defined cohort). The primary hypothesis tested was that the intervention would decrease the number of adolescents who initiated sexual activity by the ninth grade compared with those in the comparison schools.
Almost one-third (29.9%, n = 509) of the students in the comparison condition initiated sex by ninth grade compared with almost one-quarter (23.4%, n = 308) of those in the intervention condition. After adjusting for covariates, students in the comparison condition were 1.29 times more likely to initiate sex by the ninth grade than those in the intervention condition.
A theory-driven, multi-component, curriculum-based intervention can delay sexual initiation up to 24 months; can have impact on specific types of sexual behavior such as initiation of oral and anal sex; and may be especially effective with females. Future research must explore the generalizabilty of these results.
Exposure to Sexual Lyrics and Sexual Experience Among Urban Adolescents
2009, American Journal of Preventive Medicine
Citation Excerpt :
For the survey, sexual intercourse was defined as when a boy puts his penis in a girl's vagina. A validated scale was also used to measure an adolescent's progression along a noncoital sexual continuum.25 The adolescent received a score of 0 if he or she had never kissed; 1 if he or she had kissed only; 2 if he or she had “made out” (defined for the participant in parentheses as kissed for a long time); 3 if the respondent had touched breasts or had breasts touched; 4 if he or she had touched genitals or had genitals touched; and 5 if he or she had given or received oral sex.25
Two thirds of all sexual references in music are degrading in nature, yet it remains uncertain whether these references promote earlier sexual activity. The purpose of this study was to determine if exposure to lyrics describing degrading sex in popular music is independently associated with sexual behavior in a cohort of urban adolescents.
All ninth-grade health students at three large urban high schools completed in-school surveys in 2006 and 2007. Participants' exposure to lyrics describing degrading sex was computed with overall music exposure and content analyses of their favorite artists' songs. Outcomes included sexual intercourse and progression along a noncoital sexual continuum. Multivariable regression was used to assess independent associations between exposure to lyrics describing degrading sex and outcomes.
The 711 participants were exposed to 14.7 hours each week of songs with lyrics describing degrading sex (SD=17.0). Almost one third of participants (n=216) had previously been sexually active. Compared to those with the least exposure to lyrics describing degrading sex, those with the most exposure were more than twice as likely to have had sexual intercourse (OR=2.07; 95% CI=1.26, 3.41), even after adjusting for all covariates. Similarly, among those who had not had sexual intercourse, those in the highest tertile of exposure to lyrics describing degrading sex were nearly twice as likely to have progressed along a noncoital sexual continuum (OR=1.88; 95% CI=1.23, 2.88) compared to those in the lowest tertile. Finally, the relationships between exposure to lyrics describing nondegrading sex and sexual outcomes were not significant.
This study supports an association between exposure to lyrics describing degrading sex in popular music and early sexual experience among adolescents.

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Original articleAdolescent heterosexual experience: A new typology

Purpose:

Methods:

Results:

Conclusion:

J Adolesc Health

J Adolesc Health Care

Psychological Rev

Reductions in HIV risk-associated sexual behaviors among black male adolescents: effects of an AIDS prevention intervention

Am J Public Health

School-based programs to reduce sexual risk behaviors: a review of effectiveness

Public Health Rep

Cognitive-behavioral intervention to reduce African-American adolescents' risk for HIV infection

Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology

Reaching youth about AIDS: challenges confronting health educators

Health Values

Health promotion strategies for prevention of human immunodeficiency virus infection among minority adolescents

Health Education

College students use implicit personality theory instead of safer sex

J Applied Social Psychology

Sexuality research in the United States: an assessment of the social and behavioral sciences

Sexual behavior in sexually transmitted disease research: An overview

Sexually Transm Dis

Substance use and sexual risk taking among black adolescents and white adolescents

Health Psychology

Substance use and HIV-related sexual behaviors among US high school students: are they related?

Am J Public Health

The impact of AIDS on an urban population of high-risk female minority adolescents: implications for intervention

J Adolesc Health

Original article
Adolescent heterosexual experience: A new typology