Adolescents' involvement in non-romantic sexual activity

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Abstract

The majority of teens are having sex, however, we know little about sex that occurs outside the traditional dating context and the factors associated with these non-romantic sexual experiences. Prior work indicates that healthy sexual behaviors depend on the relationship context of sexual intercourse, but research on the characteristics of teens who engage in non-romantic sex is limited. We use two waves of the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health to analyze adolescents' reports of non-romantic sexual intercourse, and whether key protective and risk factors as well as normative orientations distinguish the context within which sexual activity occurs. We find that the majority of sexually active teens have had some sexual experience outside of a romantic relationship. We conclude that teenagers' sexual experiences are not static over time, because 60% of sexually active teenagers have had sex in both romantic and non-romantic contexts. Our multivariate analyses indicate that the teen's normative beliefs have significant effects on teenage non-romantic sexual activity. The traditional risk and protective factors often are not related to teens' decisions about sexual partners. These results have implications for our understanding and encouragement of healthy adolescent sexual behaviors.

Introduction

The majority of teenagers report having sex during their high school years (Alan Guttmacher Institute, 1994; Warren et al., 1998), and as a result researchers are calling for more detailed conceptualizations of adolescent sexual activity (e.g., Miller et al., 1999; Santelli et al., 2001; Whitaker et al., 2000). Research that focuses on the meanings of sexual partners indicates that adolescents distinguish between types of sexual partners (Ellen et al., 1996), but sexual activity outside of a dating relationship is a little researched dimension of adolescent life. From a policy standpoint it may be useful to move beyond the issue of whether teens are having sex and focus on more refined understandings of sexual decision-making. Considering non-romantic sex is important because this context may present greater risks for teens regarding unplanned pregnancy and exposure to sexually transmitted infections (e.g., Ford et al., 2001; Manning et al., 2000; Norris et al., 1996; Ott et al., 2002). Moreover, non-romantic sex may be a potential springboard for longer-term problems associated with relationship patterns that lack commitment.

In this paper, we move away from conceptualizations of teenage sexual activity that simply note whether an adolescent is a virgin or non-virgin, or the date of most recent sexual intercourse. We consider the relationship context of sexual activity. To date, little attention has been paid to non-romantic sex and few researchers have employed national longitudinal data to understand the relationship context of adolescent sexual intercourse. Using the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health, we address two questions: (1) What is the prevalence of non-romantic sex and (2) What factors predict this type of sexual involvement?

We draw on two theoretical frameworks to understand involvement in non-romantic sex. First, we apply a traditional risk/protective factors model. Adolescent sexual activity, in particular non-romantic sex, is often treated as a problem or risk behavior (Fortenberry, 2003; Harris et al., 2002). We apply a risk framework to determine whether the same factors that predict other adolescent risk behaviors predict non-romantic sex. Second, we explore the utility of a social learning perspective which emphasizes that variations in the normative climate within which sexual behaviors unfold may encourage or discourage non-romantic sexual behavior. We examine how the adolescents' own attitudes and perceived attitudes of family and peers influence the odds that an adolescent will become involved in non-romantic sex. Given that many aspects of sexual activity are gendered, and differ by developmental period, we examine similarities and differences for boys and girls, and by age. We analyze adolescents' reports of sexual intercourse, and whether key protective and risk factors as well as normative beliefs distinguish the context within which sexual activity occurs.

Section snippets

Dating and sexual activity

Prior work shows that for most adolescents, first sexual experience is associated with dating (e.g., Miller and Moore, 1990; Miller et al., 1997; Thornton, 1990). Dating provides a context and foundation for teenage sexual development. Only a small percentage of adolescents report having sex before ever dating (Cooksey et al., 2002; Longmore et al., 2001). Nevertheless, adolescents also have sex outside of dating relationships. Ellen et al. (1996) find that adolescents classify sexual partners

Data

We use the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health (Add Health) to address our research questions. The Add Health is based on interviews with students in grades 7 through 12 and their parents in 1995. The first wave of the main in-home sample consists of 18,924 students. Accounting for design effects, these data are representative of adolescents in the United States (see Bearman et al., 1997). Further details about the Add Health are available at their web site (//www.cpc.unc.edu/addhealth/contract.html

Relationship context of sexual activity

We address our first research question regarding the prevalence of sexual intercourse between interview waves. The first column of Table 2 shows that three-fifths (60.5%) of teens (age 15 and older) did not have intercourse between interview waves and that two-fifths of teens (age 15 and older) had sexual intercourse between the interview waves. Almost one-tenth (9.4%) of teens had sex with only non-romantic partners and one-quarter (24.7%) had sex with only romantic partners. A small

Discussion

Our work contributes to a growing body of literature that focuses on the importance of relationships with sexual partners. We argue that it is important to consider the full repertoire of adolescents' experiences by examining the types of sexual partners over time. Approximately one-quarter of teens initiate sex with someone they are not dating (Manning et al., 2000). We find that the majority of sexually active teens have had some sexual experience outside of a romantic relationship. Thus,

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      Others scholars have found high levels of engagement in risky sexual behavior more generally during college, such as sex without condoms (Flannery & Ellingson, 2003; Scholly, Katz, Gascoigne, & Holck, 2005), sex with multiple partners (Scholly et al., 2005), and sex while under the influence of alcohol (Flannery & Ellingson, 2003; Randolph, Torres, Gore-Felton, Lloyd, & McGarvey, 2009). While some adolescents do experience hookups prior to college (Manning, Longmore, & Giordano, 2005; Manning, Longmore, Copp, & Giordano, 2014; Sennott & Mollborn, 2011), variation from school to school, and between communities can be extensive (Olmstead et al., 2018; Warner, 2013). In contrast, the existence of hookup cultures on college campuses is usually considered to be ubiquitous (Olmstead, Roberson, Pasley, & Fincham, 2013, 2018; Reid et al., 2015).

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    This is a revised version of a paper presented at the Ninth Biennial Meeting of the Society for Research on Adolescence, April 11–14, 2002, New Orleans, Louisiana. We thank Susan Brown and Jean Gerard for their helpful comments. We appreciate Kathleen Lamb's capable research assistance. This research is supported by a grant from the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (Grant HD36223). This research was also supported in part by the Center for Family and Demographic Research at Bowling Green State University, which has core funding from the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (R21 HD042831-01). 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 a 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 original design. Persons interested in obtaining data files from Add Health should contact Add Health, Carolina Population Center, 123 W. Franklin Street, Chapel Hill, NC 27516-2524, USA (www.cpc.unc.edu/addhealth/contract.html).

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