Early Sexual Intercourse, Condom Use and Sexually Transmitted Diseases

Newspaper article

By: Anonymous

Date: May 3, 2005

Source: "Early Sexual Intercourse, Condom Use and Sexually Transmitted Diseases." The Daily (May 3, 2005).

About the Author: This article was published without a byline and was contributed by a staff writer at The Daily, a Canadian English-language newspaper.

INTRODUCTION

This report on early sexual intercourse summarizes statistical data from two studies of young teens in Canada published in 2005. The first study, which focused on sexual intercourse, was based on surveys of 3,212 persons aged fourteen or fifteen in 1998–1999 or 2000–2001. The second, which focused on rates of diagnosis of sexually transmitted diseases (STDs), was based on a sample of 18,084 people aged fifteen to twenty-four surveyed in 2003.

A number of straightforward numerical data are presented. For example, the article notes that twelve percent of Canadian boys and thirteen percent of girls have had sexual intercourse by ages fourteen or fifteen, However, the data do not measure actual rates of sexual experience, but teens' unverified claims about their sexual experience (self-reported data). The article also reports the possibility that condom use is lower at older ages because "those in the older age group are more likely to be in a long-term relationship with one partner, and so perceive condom use as less of a concern." However, as the word choice makes clear, this is speculation, not a finding of the study.

The study on STDs reported here found that older young adults were more likely to report themselves as having been diagnosed with an STD, and that persons who started having sex at younger ages were more likely to report themselves as having had an STD than those who began having sex at older ages.

Finally, the article describes the statistical links found between certain factors and early commencement of sexual activity. Drinking and smoking were found to be associated with early sexual intercourse in girls: only smoking, not drinking, was associated with early sexual intercourse in boys. Lower incomes and poorer relations with parents were found to be associated with early intercourse in boys; if any association between these factors and early intercourse was found in girls, it is not mentioned here. None of these associations necessarily imply that one thing causes the other: that is, smoking does not necessarily lead to sex nor sex to smoking. Both may be caused by a third factor (or multiple factors).

PRIMARY SOURCE

EARLY SEXUAL INTERCOURSE, CONDOM USE AND SEXUALLY TRANSMITTED DISEASES

An estimated 12% of boys and 13% of girls have had sexual intercourse by ages 14 or 15, according to a new study based on data that the teenagers reported to a national survey.

Using data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Children and Youth (NLSCY), the study found that characteristics associated with early sexual activity differed for boys and girls.

A separate study, also based on self-reported data, found that many young people may be putting their health at risk by having sex without a condom.

This second report is based on data from the 2003 Canadian Community Health Survey (CCHS). It examines sexual activity, number of partners and condom use among 15to 24-year-olds, as well as their likelihood of reporting having been diagnosed with sexually transmitted diseases (STDs), now also referred to as "sexually transmitted infections."

In 2003, an estimated 28% of 15- to 17-year-olds reported having had sexual intercourse at least once in their lives. By ages 20 to 24, the proportion was 80%. One-third of sexually active 15- to 24-year-olds reported that they had had more than one sexual partner in the previous year.

In addition, about 3 in 10 young people who had sex with multiple partners in the past year had not used a condom the last time they had intercourse.

Multiple partners, condom use related to age

Young men were more likely than young women to report having had more than one sexual partner during the previous year. As well, 15- to 24-year-olds who had had intercourse by age 13 were significantly more likely to have had two or more sexual partners in the past year than were those whose first experience happened when they were older.

Sex without a condom was more common at older ages. Nearly 44% of sexually active 20- to 24-year-olds reported sex without a condom, compared with 33% of those aged 18 to 19, and 22% of those aged 15 to 17.

It is possible that those in the older age group are more likely to be in a long-term relationship with one partner, and so perceive condom use as less of a concern.

When the impact of other factors that might influence condom use (such as current age, age at first intercourse, marital status) was taken into account, young women in Quebec and New Brunswick emerged as being more likely to engage in sex without condoms than their counterparts in Ontario.

STD risk linked to age

According to CCHS data, 4% of 15-to 24-year-olds who had had sex at least once reported having been diagnosed with a STD. The true figure is likely higher than reported because of a possible lack of symptoms or awareness.

Young adults aged 20 to 24 were significantly more likely than 15-to 17-year-olds to have been diagnosed with an STD. This is probably because the older group has had more years of being sexually active.

Similarly, early age at first intercourse also increased the risk. Those who had had sexual intercourse by age 13 were more than twice as likely to report an STD than were those who had waited until they were older.

Factors differ for boys and girls

The factors related to early sexual intercourse differed for girls and boys, according to NLSCY data.

The odds of early intercourse among girls were high for those who, at ages 12 or 13, had reached puberty or were not overweight.

Also, girls whose self-concept was weak at ages 12 or 13 were more likely than those with a strong self-concept to have had sexual intercourse by 14 or 15. The opposite was true for boys.

An association between smoking and early sexual intercourse was strong for both sexes, even when the impact of the other factors was taken into account. At ages 12 or 13, 26% of boys and 31% of girls reported that they had tried smoking cigarettes. Within two years, over one-quarter of this group reported that they had had intercourse.

As well, for girls, having tried drinking by ages 12 or 13 was associated with reporting having had intercourse by ages 14 or 15.

Drinking was not associated with early sexual activity in boys. However, significantly high proportions of boys who had a poor relationship with their parents at ages 12 or 13, or who were in a low-income family, reported having had sex by ages 14 or 15.

Young girls in the eastern provinces and Quebec were more likely to report being sexually active than were those in Ontario.

NOTE TO READERS

The study on early sexual intercourse is based on data from the 1996/97, 1998/99 and 2000/01 National Longitudinal Survey of Children and Youth (NLSCY). It uses a sample of 3,212 youths who were aged 14 or 15 in 1998/99 or 2000/01.

A second study, on sexual intercourse, condom use and sexually transmitted diseases among older teens and young adults, is based on data from the 2003 Canadian Community Health Survey. It uses a sample of 18,084 youths aged 15 to 24 in 2003.

Some data limitations should be noted. For example, the term "sexual intercourse" was not defined in the survey questions. What one respondent considers "sexual intercourse" may differ from another's interpretation. Also, the answers that survey respondents give to questions about matters such as sexual activity, smoking or drinking may not accurately reflect their behaviour.

SIGNIFICANCE

Several large, government-funded studies have been devoted to the question of child and teen sexual activity, not only in Canada but in the United States and in other countries. There is ample public-health ground for this concern. Medical experts agree that there are a number of negative consequences for children and teens who begin to have sexual intercourse at early ages. Apart from pregnancy, an obvious risk for girls, multiple studies have found that teenagers who are sexually active are more likely to have been sexually or physically abused, to be depressed, to have STDs, to have contemplated suicide, to drink more, to get poorer grades, and to have poorer relationships with their parents. Not all these associations are causal, but some certainly are, partly or wholly. There is, then, science-based agreement across the ideological spectrum that early sexual activity is risky. The data supporting this belief are exemplified by the Canadian study described here. They confirm that sexual activity among young teens is not only risky but common and is even fairly common among children not yet in their teens. The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) said in 2001 that "Early sexual intercourse among American adolescents represents a major public health problem."

There is no universal agreement, however, on the causes of the high levels of sexual activity among young people. Social and religious conservatives tend to blame pornography, permissive parenting, permissive or no religious instruction, and the "sexual revolution" of the 1960s, which openly defied the traditional teaching that premarital sex is shameful.

The AAP points to media representations of sexuality as a major cause of early sexual activity: "Although early sexual activity may be caused by a variety of factors, the media are believed to play a significant role. In film, television, and music, sexual messages are becoming more explicit … these messages contain unrealistic, inaccurate, and misleading information that young people accept as fact." The average American teen views almost 14,000 sexual references on television per year, only one tenth of one percent of which deal with birth control, abstinence, or the risk of pregnancy or STDs. Some research finds that heavy exposure to sex in the media encourages an exaggerated idea of how much sex goes on in the real world; the AAP suggests that media may thus act as a "super peer" portraying highly active sexuality as normal and thus, almost by definition, desirable for teens.

Different ideological camps draw different conclusions from these facts. Social and religious conservatives often advocate abstinence-only sex education programs that explicitly encourage teens to not have sex at all: "[A]bstinence education programs are uniquely suited to meeting both the emotional and the physical needs of America's youth," concludes a review of the link between sex and teen depression by the conservative Heritage Foundation. Liberal groups urge the teaching of sexuality, STD, and birth control facts: a review by Planned Parenthood of data on the ills of early teen sexual activity concludes, in part, that teens should be provided with "responsible, medically accurate sexuality education." In 2001, the AAP bemoaned the "absence of effective, comprehensive sex education at home or in the schools."

FURTHER RESOURCES

Periodicals

American Academy of Pediatrics. "Sexuality, Contraception, and the Media." Pediatrics 107, 1 (January 2001): 191-194.

Web sites

Planned Parenthood. "White Paper: Adolescent Sexuality." 〈http://www.plannedparenthood.org/pp2/portal/files/portal/medicalinfo/teensexualhealth/white-adolescent-sexuality-02.xml〉 (accessed April 1, 2006).

Rector, Robert E., Kirk A. Johnson, and Lauren R. Noyes. The Heritage Foundation. "Sexually Active Teenagers Are More Likely to Be Depressed and to Attempt Suicide." 〈http://www.heritage.org/Research/Family/cda0304.cfm〉 (accessed April 1, 2006).