Girls experiencing sexual intercourse early: Could it play a part in reproductive health in middle adulthood?

Abstract

The aim of the present study is to examine the possible relationship between experiencing early intercourse and reproductive health characteristics in midlife for women. The participants belonged to the Swedish longitudinal research program Individual Development and Adaptation (IDA) project. By the age of 14, the cohort consisted of 590 girls, whereas 522 gave information about the timing of their first sexual intercourse experience. Approximately 29 years later, when the women were 43 years old, a sub-cohort of 369 women participated in the psychological-medical investigation. Those who experienced early intercourse were likely to be different on various demographics and have markers of poorer reproductive health characteristics than their counterparts. More specifically, those experiencing early intercourse were less formally educated, left home earlier, and earned on average less than their counterparts who experienced sexual intercourse later. Early intercourse likely plays a role in not only specific reproductive health but also reproductive health characteristics as a whole in midlife. Early intercourse was consistently a predictor of teenage pregnancy, terminated pregnancies, no use of contraception, and having menstrual symptoms.

Pathways to Early Coital Debut for Adolescent Girls: A Recursive Partitioning Analysis

“…In a large Norwegian study, maternal and paternal education as well as family income significantly predicted early sexual debut among 15- to 16-year old adolescent girls, such that girls with lower parental education were more likely to experience coital debut by age 15 or 16 as compared to girls with higher parental education (Valle, Røysamb, Sundby, & Klepp, 2009). This trend is consistent with other studies conducted in the United States (Longmore, Manning, Giordano, & Rudolph, 2004), Sweden (Magnusson & Trost, 2006), and New Zealand (Paul, Fitzjohn, Herbison, & Vickson, 2000). …”

“…Although early coital debut has been linked with having sex with multiple partners (World Health Organization, 2006) as well with other problematic sexual health outcomes in adulthood (Magnusson & Trost, 2006), not all sexual episodes among early adolescents are inherently risky. It is possible that the health of a girl’s first sexual experience may depend more heavily upon the quality of her relationship with her sexual partner than the timing of her first experience.…”

“…Early coital debut has been shown to be a risk factor for having multiple sexual partners (World Health Organization, 2006) and HIV infection (Drain, Smith, Hughes, Halperin, & Holmes, 2004). In addition, early onset of sexual intercourse in girls is associated with more problematic behavior, such as minor deviance (Bingham & Crockett, 1996), failure to attain a high school diploma and post-secondary education (Frisco, 2008), and may also be associated with complications in sexual health in adulthood (Magnusson & Trost, 2006). Thus, it is important to identify pathways of adolescent girls’ transition to first intercourse.…”

Rethinking Timing of First Sex and Delinquency

“…Additional research has documented associations between age at first sex and subsequent psychosocial adjustment, but without methodologically controlling for preexisting differences in functioning. For example, early age at first sex has been linked to earlier leaving of the parental home, lower educational attainment, experiencing a pregnancy termination (either via abortion or miscarriage), and receiving medical treatment to facilitate pregnancy (Magnusson and Trost 2006); greater psychological distress among college women (Leitenberg and Saltzmann 2003); and experimentation with cocaine (Kandel and Davies 1990) and other substances (Mott and Haurin 1988;Dorius et al 1991). Also, Cauffman and Steinberg (1996) found that physical involvement with a boyfriend among seventh-and eighth-grade girls predicted disordered eating.…”

How well protected are sexually active 15-year olds? Cross-national patterns in condom and contraceptive pill use 2002–2006

“…The potential risks associated with sexual behaviour among 15 year olds are mainly linked to the emotional and behavioural characteristics of this developmental stage. It is known that early sex has implications for self-perceptions, social status and future health behaviour 5 . Unprotected and poorly protected intercourse brings the risk of unintended pregnancy with its myriad of possible outcomes for this age group, including abortion, early motherhood and adoption -each of which presents educational, economic, social and health challenges [6][7][8][9] .…”