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
. 2014 Jul;55(1):114-21.
doi: 10.1016/j.jadohealth.2013.12.008. Epub 2014 Feb 7.

Macro-level age norms for the timing of sexual initiation and adolescents' early sexual initiation in 17 European countries

Aubrey Spriggs Madkour  1 , Margaretha de Looze  2 , Ping Ma  3 , Carolyn Tucker Halpern  4 , Tilda Farhat  5 , Tom F M Ter Bogt  6 , Virginie Ehlinger  7 , Saoirse Nic Gabhainn  8 , Candace Currie  9 , Emmanuelle Godeau  10
Affiliations

Macro-level age norms for the timing of sexual initiation and adolescents' early sexual initiation in 17 European countries

Aubrey Spriggs Madkour et al. J Adolesc Health. 2014 Jul.

Abstract

Purpose: To examine the relationship between country-level age norms for sexual initiation timing and early sexual initiation (ESI) among adolescent boys and girls.

Methods: Nationally representative data from 17 countries that participated in the 2006/2007 European Social Survey (ESS-3, n = 33,092) and the 2005/2006 Health Behaviour in School-Aged Children Study (HBSC, n = 27,702) were analyzed. Age norms were measured as the average country-level response to an item asking the age at which ESS respondents believed someone is too young to have sexual intercourse. HBSC respondents (aged 14-16 years) self-reported age at sexual initiation, which we defined as early (<15 years) or not early (≥15 years or no initiation). Control variables included age, family affluence, perceived socioeconomic status, family living arrangement, substance use, school attachment, and country-level legal age of consent. Multivariable three-level logistic models with random intercepts were run separately by sex.

Results: In multivariable analyses, higher overall age norms were associated with reduced likelihood of ESI among girls (AOR .60, 95% CI .45-.79); associations with ESI were stronger for parent cohort (ages 31-65 years) norms (AOR .37, 95% CI .23-.58) than for peer cohort (ages 15-20 years) norms (AOR .60, 95% CI .49-.74). For boys, overall norms were also significantly negatively associated with ESI (AOR .68, 95% CI .46-.99), as were parent cohort norms (AOR .66, 95% CI .45-.96). Peer cohort norms were not significantly related to boys' ESI.

Conclusion: Macrolevel cultural norms may impact adolescents' sexual initiation timing. Research exploring the sexual health outcomes of early initiators in countries with contrasting age norms is warranted.

Keywords: Adolescents; Cross-national comparison; Culture; Europe; Multilevel modeling; Sexual behavior.

PubMed Disclaimer

References

    1. Carpenter L. Virginity Lost: An Intimate Portrait of First Sexual Experiences. New York: New York University Press; 2005.
    1. Kaestle CE, Halpern CT, Miller WC, Ford CA. Young age at first sexual intercourse and sexually transmitted infections in adolescents and young adults. Am J Epidemiol. 2005 Apr 15;161(8):774–780. - PubMed
    1. Shoveller JA, Johnson JL, Langille DB, Mitchell T. Socio-cultural influences on young people’s sexual development. Soc Sci Med. 2004 Aug;59(3):473–487. - PubMed
    1. Spriggs AL, Halpern CT. Timing of sexual debut and initiation of postsecondary education in early adulthood. Perspectives on Sexual and Reproductive Health. 2008;40(3):152–161. - PubMed
    1. Spriggs AL, Halpern CT. Sexual debut timing and depressive symptoms in emerging adulthood. Journal of Youth and Adolescence. 2008;37(9):1085–1096. - PMC - PubMed

Publication types

MeSH terms