Elsevier

Journal of Adolescent Health

Volume 39, Issue 6, December 2006, Pages 926.e1-926.e10
Journal of Adolescent Health

Original article
Adolescent Predictors of Emerging Adult Sexual Patterns

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jadohealth.2006.08.005Get rights and content

Abstract

Purpose

This study estimates the percentages of young adults who fall into three groups based on the context of sexual transition: (1) those who had vaginal intercourse before marriage (Premaritals), (2) those who postponed sex until after marriage (Postponers), and (3) those who have never had vaginal intercourse (Virgins). The second purpose is to determine adolescent biopsychosocial factors that predict membership in these adult groups.

Methods

Analyses are based on 11,407 respondents ages 18–27 years who participated in Waves I and III of the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health. Adolescent indicators reflecting sociodemographic, biosocial, experiential, and contextual factors were used to predict young adult sexual status using multinomial logistic regression models.

Results

About 8% of the sample were virgins and 2% were virgins until marriage. Almost 90% had sex before marriage (Premaritals – referent group). Most predictors of status were similar for males and females. Compared with Premaritals, Virgins were younger, non-Black, not advanced in physical maturity relative to peers in adolescence, had higher body mass indexes, were more religious, and perceived parental disapproval of sex during adolescence. Postponers were also more religious than Premaritals but were older. Female Postponers were non-Black and perceived parental disapproval of sex during adolescence. Male Postponers were less likely to have same-gender attractions or no sexual attractions.

Conclusions

Findings document premarital sexual activity as the almost universal sexual trajectory into young adulthood for these cohorts and underscore the roles of biosocial factors and conventional institutions in emerging sexual patterns.

Section snippets

Sample

Add Health began with a school-based probability sample of U.S. adolescents in grades 7–12 in the 1994–1995 school year. At Wave I (1995), 20,745 in-home interviews were completed (about 79% of eligible respondents). Approximately one year later a second in-home interview was conducted. At Wave III (2001–2002), 76% of the original Wave I in-home sample (n = 14,249) ages 18–27 were successfully re-interviewed. In-home questionnaires were administered via laptop computer; at Waves I and II, audio

Results

Table 1 presents descriptive statistics for all females in the analysis sample, and the percentages of females having a given characteristic who fall into each sexual status group. Means and standard deviations are presented for continuous variables. Eighty-nine percent of females had sex before marriage (Premaritals), almost 3% postponed sex until marriage (Postponers), and 8% had not yet had vaginal intercourse (Virgins). Table 2 presents parallel information for males. Almost 91% of males

Discussion

Our prevalence estimate of young adult premarital sex (90%) in this nationally representative sample is consistent with other recent analyses based in the United States [14], and confirm that waiting until marriage to begin coital activity is unusual. Our analyses are one of the few attempts to look prospectively at adolescent predictors of emergent adult sexual patterns. Chronological age and religiosity were the only significant predictors of all group memberships for both males and females.

Acknowledgments

This work was supported by a grant from the National Institute of Drug Abuse (R01-DA14496, Denise Dion Hallfors, PI). This research uses data from Add Health, a program project designed by J. Richard Udry, Peter S. Bearman, and Kathleen Mullan Harris, and funded by grant P01-HD31921 from the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, with cooperative funding from 17 other agencies. Special acknowledgment is due Ronald R. Rindfuss and Barbara Entwisle for assistance in the

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