Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2009 Aug;80(2):158-62.
doi: 10.1016/j.contraception.2009.02.014. Epub 2009 Apr 23.

Age of sexual debut among US adolescents

Patricia A Cavazos-Rehg  1 , Melissa J Krauss, Edward L Spitznagel, Mario Schootman, Kathleen K Bucholz, Jeffrey F Peipert, Vetta Sanders-Thompson, Linda B Cottler, Laura Jean Bierut
Affiliations

Age of sexual debut among US adolescents

Patricia A Cavazos-Rehg et al. Contraception. 2009 Aug.

Abstract

Background: This study examined gender and racial/ethnic differences in sexual debut.

Study design: We analyzed 1999-2007 data from the Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance System (YRBSS), a cross-sectional, nationally representative survey of students in Grades 9-12 established by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The Kaplan-Meier method was used to compute the probability of survival (not having become sexually active) at each year (age 12 through 17), and separate estimates were produced for each level of gender and racial/ethnic group.

Results: African-American males experienced sexual debut earlier than all other groups (all tests of significance at p<.001) and Asian males and females experienced sexual debut later than all groups (all tests of significance at p<.001). By their 17th birthday, the probability for sexual debut was less than 35% for Asians (females 28%, males 33%) and less than 60% for Caucasians (58% females, 53% males) and Hispanic females (59%). The probability for sexual debut by their 17th birthday was greatest for African Americans (74% females, 82% males) and Hispanic males (69%).

Conclusions: These results demonstrate a need for sexual education programs and policy to be sensitive to the roles of race and ethnicity in sexual debut.

PubMed Disclaimer

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Kaplan–Meier curves: probability of surviving free of sexual debut, according to race and gender.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Eaton DK, Kann L, Kinchen S, et al. Youth risk behavior surveillance—United States, 2007. MMWR Morb Mortal Wkly Rep. 2008;57:1–131. - PubMed
    1. Carver K, Joyner K, Udry JR. National estimates of adolescent romantic relationships. In: Florsheim P, editor. Adolescent romantic relations and sexual behavior. Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum; 2004. pp. 23–56.
    1. Grunbaum JA, Kann L, Kinchen SA, et al. Youth risk behavior surveillance—United States, 2001. J Sch Health. 2002;72:313–328. - PubMed
    1. Finer LB. Trends in premarital sex in the United States, 1954–2003. Public Health Rep. 2007;122:73–78. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Meston CM, Ahrold T. Ethnic, gender, and acculturation influences on sexual behaviors. Arch Sex Behav. 2008 Oct 17; [Epub ahead of print] - PMC - PubMed

Publication types