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Sexual activity among youngest adolescents rare, but activity grows with age
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Very few early adolescents have had sex, but adolescence is a time of rapid change, and sexual activity is more common among older teens, according to study data published online.
Lawrence B. Finer, PhD, of the Guttmacher Institute, New York, and colleagues used data on sexual initiation, which they defined as vaginal intercourse, contraceptive use and pregnancy among American adolescents aged 10 to 19 years from the 2006-2010 National Survey of Family Growth, conducted by the US National Center for Health Statistics and other sources.
The researchers noted that 0.6% of 10-year-olds, 1.1% of 11-year-olds and 2.4% of 12-year-olds reported sexual activity. However, among older teens, including one-third of those aged 16 years, nearly half of those aged 17 years, and 61% and 71% of 18- and 19-year-olds, respectively, had reported sexual activity.
The researchers also reported that contraceptive initiation among girls as young as 15 years was similar to that of the oldest teens. More than 80% of 16-year-olds used a contraceptive method at first sex, and by 1 year after first sex, 95% of those teens had used contraceptives. However, adolescents who initiated sex at aged 14 years or younger were less likely to use contraceptives.
The analysis also found that sex among very young adolescents is frequently involuntary. Sixty-two percent of females who had sex by age 10 years said their first sex was coerced, as did 50% of those who had had sex by age 11 years. The researchers said coerced sex warrants attention from health care providers.
Disclosure: Finer reports no relevant financial disclosures.
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