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�US Teens:� How “Sexually Active” �Are They?

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A Myth/Fact Quiz for Professionals

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Myth or Fact?

Currently, more teens are having sexual intercourse while in high school than ever before.

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MYTH

Fewer than half of all high school students report ever having had sexual intercourse according to the

Youth Risk Behavior Survey conducted by the CDC.

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Today-

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2015- Among teen females aged 15-19, 42% had ever had sex, and

among teen males, the percent was 44%

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2005 = 47% report ever having had sexual intercourse

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The average age for first sexual intercourse is 16.9 for males and 17.4 for females according to The Guttmacher Institute report

In Their Own Right.

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Young people are at high risk of unintended pregnancy and STDs for many years

26.7

16.9

28.5

12.6

17.4

25.1

26.0

10 15 20 25 30 35

Menarche

Spermarche

First intercourse

First marriage

First birth

First intercourse

First marriage

First birth

AGE

14.0

MEN

WOMEN

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Myth or Fact?

Currently, there is an epidemic of teen pregnancy with more teens becoming pregnant than ever before.

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MYTH

The pregnancy rate among teen girls ages 15-19 is at the lowest in over a decade. Even though recent results show a three point increase in the teen birth rate, it is still much lower than it has been in almost two decades.

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According to data, the pregnancy rate is 84 per 1,000 girls ages 15-19 versus a high of 117 per 1,000 in 1990. The decline in teen pregnancy has been steepest for African-American girls.

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Girls ages 15-19 = 84 per 1,000

Girls ages 15-17 = 48 per 1,000

Girls ages 18-19* = 136 per 1,000

(*most teen pregnancies occur in this age group)

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Of the decline in teen pregnancy, 86% is due to teens using more effective methods of birth control while 14% is due to more teens choosing to postpone intercourse.

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Myth or Fact?

These days

most teens

are having oral sex.

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MYTH

According to data, roughly half of teens ages 15-19 report receiving oral sex (52% of males and 50% of females) while smaller percentages report giving oral sex (39% of males and 44% of females). Currently, there is not much data on 12-14 year olds.

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Myth or Fact?

Roughly one-third of all teen pregnancies end in abortion.

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FACT

Among pregnant teens ages 15-19, 29% chose to have an abortion. The reasons teens give most often for having an abortion are:

Concern about how having a baby would change their lives

Inability to afford providing for a baby and

Not feeling mature enough to raise a child

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Myth or Fact?

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Currently, 1 in 4 teens, ages

15-24, who are having sexual intercourse, will become infected with an STD each year.

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FACT

Due to inconsistent condom use, lack of condom use, multiple partners, feelings of invincibility and lack of access to testing and treatment, teens are still at great risk for contracting STDs.

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The most common STDs among teens are:

Human PapillomaVirus (HPV),

and

Chlamydia

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Of the 18.9 million new cases of STDs each year, 9.1 million or 48% occur among 15-24 year olds.

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Myth or Fact?

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Teens who date much older partners are just as likely to become pregnant as teens who date peers of a similar age.

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MYTH

Over 35% of teen girls ages 15-19 have a sexual partner who is 3-5 years older than they are compared to 8% of teen males. Teen girls in these relationships are at greater risk for multiple unhealthy consequences than their peers dating similarly-aged peers because:

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1) They are less likely to use contraception

2) More likely to become pregnant because of lack of contraceptive use

3) Less likely to have an abortion if become pregnant

4) More likely to have a history of forced sex

5) Greater risk for HIV due to multiple partners and early initiation of intercourse

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Additionally, the younger the pregnant teen is, the older the father is likely to be. According to estimates from the Committee on Unintended Pregnancy, nearly 40% of girls who give birth before the age of 15 became pregnant from intercourse with men between the ages of 20-29.

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This graph shows the percentage of teens, whose partner at first intercourse was younger, same or older than they were, by gender. For example, 24% of females report that their first sexual partner was 3-4 years older than they were while just 5% of males report the same experience.

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Myth or Fact?

Teen girls who identify as lesbian or are questioning their sexual orientation have higher unintended pregnancy rates than teens who are heterosexual.

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FACT

Although this seems counterintuitive, girls who identify as lesbian or are questioning their sexual orientation often engage in unprotected vaginal sex as a way to mask their sexual orientation or deal with pervasive homophobia. These girls are at greater risk than their heterosexual peers because:

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    • Have higher rates of sexual abuse than heterosexual peers
    • Less likely to use birth control method
    • If birth control is used, more likely it is an ineffective method such as withdrawal or rhythm
    • Initiated intercourse at younger age
    • Engage in intercourse more frequently than heterosexual peers

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Pregnancy Rates

Girls Who Identify as Heterosexual = 5%

Girls Who Identify as Unsure of Their Sexual Orientation = 6%

Girls Who Identify as Bisexual or Lesbian = 12%

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Myth or Fact?

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Emergency Contraception, sometimes called “the morning after pill”, could reduce the pregnancy rate if more teens knew it existed and

had access to it.

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FACT

Emergency contraception is widely believed to have the potential to significantly reduce the rate of unintended pregnancy. There is evidence that emergency contraception has already reduced the abortion rate. The more teens know about emergency contraception, how it prevents pregnancy and how/when to take it correctly, the more unintended pregnancies could be prevented.

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Myth or Fact?

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Teens under the age of 18 don’t need their parents’ permission to get birth control from a family planning clinic in the

United States.

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FACT

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Family planning clinics are generally funded by Title X from the federal government and are required to provide confidential services for teens. This federal policy trumps state policy, even in those states that try to decrease teens’ access to contraception and STD/HIV testing.

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Teens report the following reasons for not wanting to involve their parents in their reproductive care:

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1) Don’t want their parents to know they’re having sexual intercourse

2) They want to take responsibility for themselves

3) They don’t want to disappoint their parents

4) They or their parents are not comfortable talking about sexuality

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Myth or Fact?

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The most common form of birth control used by teens is using

no method at all, meaning having unprotected sexual intercourse.

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MYTH

Actually 83% of females and 91% of males report using a method of birth control at last intercourse. The five most commonly used methods of birth control among teens from surveys are:

Abstinence

Condoms

No Method

Birth control pills and

Combined methods (hormonal and barrier)

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Condom use among teens having intercourse has been steadily increasing over the years

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Most teens use a condom �at first intercourse

% of female teens using contraceptives at first intercourse

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SOME MORE NUMBERS

  • Virtually all sexually experienced teens have used some method of contraception. There was an increase in the rate of contraception use among female teens since 2002, from 97.7% to 99.4%
  • For the majority of teens their first sexual intercourse was with someone with whom they were “going steady” (female teens: 74%; male teens: 51%).
  • Only a small percentage of teens had their first sexual intercourse with someone they had “just met” (female teens: 2%; male teens: 7%).

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SET GOALS

Concerning Contraceptive Use:

  • Condoms remained the most commonly used birth control method among teens (reported by 97% of teen), followed by withdrawal (60% ) and the pill (56%). Do you think this is still the case?
  • Teens who report that they would be upset about getting pregnant are more likely to use contraception than those who say they would be pleased, reinforcing previous research on pregnancy ambivalence which underlies Planned Parenthood's digital tools— encouraging young people to set goals and think about if, or when, they want to have children.

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SET YOUR BOUNDARIES

DO YOU WANT TO HAVE CHILDREN?

IF SO, WHEN? IF NOT, THAT’S OKAY TOO

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WHAT ARE YOUR SEXUAL LIMITS?

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HOW WILL YOU MAINTAIN THEM?

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Other findings include:

  • Among teen females aged 15-19, 42% reported having ever had sex; among teen males, the percent was 44%.
  • Among younger teens, males are more likely to have had sex than females but by age 17, the probability of having sexual intercourse was similar for males and females. By age 18, 55% of both males and females have had sex.
  • Among those teens who had not yet had sex, the most common reasons for abstaining were: “it was against religion or morals,” and “haven’t found the right person yet.

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Works Cited

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