Trends in Sexual Activity Among Adolescent American Women: 1982-1995

Abstract:
This article states that the formulation of policies and development of programs regarding adolescent sexual and reproductive health requires up-to-date informaiton on levels of and trends in teenage sexual activity. The authors performed an analysis of three National Survey of Family Growth surveys, carried out in 1982, 1988, and 1995 to examine the sexual behavior of teenage women over a 13 year time period. The results showed that the proportion of adolescent women who ever had sexual intercourse increased somewhat during the 1980's, but this upward trend stabilized between the late 1980's and the mid 1990's. Throughout the period, there was little change in the proportion currently sexually active: in each of the surveys, about 40% of all 15-19 year-olds had had sexual intercourse in the last three months. Differences in teenage sexual behavior across poverty and racial and enthnic subgroups were large in the early 1980's but narrowed over the 13-year period. The authors conclude that only continued monitoring will tell whether the patterns abserved during 1988-1995 signify a temporary leveling off in the trend toward increasing adolescent sexual activity, stability in behavior or the beginnings of a decline. Nevertheless, the sustained level of initiation of sexual activity during adolescence is by now a recognized pattern of behavior, and it an important characteristic of the transition to adulthood in the US.

Author(s): Singh, Susheela; and Darroch, Jacqueline E.

Publication: Family Planning Perspectives, Vol. 31, No. 5, pp.212-219


Date Published: 10/1/1999

Pages: 8

Location Code: 8355