NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Teenagers' with positive viewpoints about postponing sexual activity are generally less likely to become sexually active within the next year, but instilling fear of pregnancy and sexually transmitted diseases does not appear to promote sexual abstinence, researchers report.
"Teens' beliefs and attitudes about sex determine their sexual intentions, and their sexual intentions determine their sexual activity," Dr. Susan Gray, of Boston University School of Medicine, told Reuters Health. However, parents and educators must do more than instill fear to promote sexual abstinence.
In 1999, Gray's group surveyed 11,448 adolescents between 12 and 17 years old who reported never having sexual intercourse. The findings are reported in the Archives of Pediatric and Adolescent Medicine.
Of the 7,661 subjects who also completed a follow-up survey in 2000, the researchers found that 7.5 percent of the boys and 10.1 percent of the girls reported they had sexual intercourse in the previous year.
The teens' initial answers determined using the "postponing sexual initiation" scale, a scientifically validated tool designed to identify teens at higher risk for initiating sexual intercourse, provided an accurate indication of their intent to initiate sexual activity, Gray said.
The boys and girls who indicated they probably or definitely would initiate sex were much more likely to report having done so within the following year. Those with positive beliefs and attitudes about postponing sex, "had lower intention to have sex and were less likely to report having had sex," Gray noted.
The responses also indicated that the teens "were almost universally fearful of pregnancy and sexually transmitted infections," Gray said, "but that did not affect their decision to have sex in the next year."
Adolescents who believed friends were not having sex; reported they had not met the right person; said they had not encountered the right situation to have sex; reported their parents and health care providers were against it; and indicated it was against their personal beliefs or expectations were less likely to initiate sexual activity, Gray commented.
Gray and her colleagues suggest the postponing sexual initiation scale may help pediatricians assess adolescents' viewpoints about initiating sexual activity and may be a valuable "ruler" by which to measure the effectiveness of sex education curricula.
SOURCE: Archives of Pediatric and Adolescent Medicine, January 2008.
