Young women's adolescent experiences of oral sex: relation of age of initiation to sexual motivation, sexual coercion, and psychological functioning

A resilience framework: Sexual health trajectories of youth with maltreatment histories

There is a wealth of knowledge regarding negative sexual outcomes experienced by youth with childhood maltreatment (CM) histories, yet a dearth of research examines healthy sexual development among these youth. This gap exists despite evidence of resilience highlighting alternative and healthy physical, social, and psychological futures for youth who were abused. This study tested whether trajectories of resilience identified in studies of psychological functioning were applicable to sexual health. Using data from the first four waves of the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent to Adult Health, latent class growth analysis was conducted among individuals with histories of CM (N = 1,437). On average, participants were 15, 16, 21, and 28 years old, respectively, by waves of data collection. About half of the sample was female (55%), the majority were White (66%), and a sizeable portion had experienced multiple forms of CM prior to Wave I (38%). Controlling for CM severity, three distinct sexual health trajectory classes were identified: resilient, survival, and improving, which were differentiated by age and biological sex. Older participants' sexual health was more likely to diminish over time, girls were more likely to show gains in sexual health over time, and significant differences in levels of sexual behaviors between the classes were only present during adolescence. Findings support the need for increased attention on the potential for sexual health despite experiences of CM, and highlight the applicability of resilience theory to youth sexuality.

Vaginal and Oral Sex Initiation Timing: A Focus on Gender and Race/Ethnicity

OBJECTIVES

Most previous studies on sexual initiation timing have examined its effects on a variety of subsequent outcomes without first examining the correlates and predictors of these timing categories. Studies that do exist often do not utilize samples through young adulthood, leading to a misclassified set of sexual timing categories. In addition, the literature does not adequately address the issues of oral sex timing. Therefore, the objectives of this study were 1) to explore age-cutoffs that mark the "normative" and "non-normative" entry into vaginal and oral sex among young women and men in the U.S., creating sexual four sexual initiation timing categories - "early," "normative," "late," and "inexperienced," and; 2) to examine the association between race/ethnicity and sexual initiation timing by gender.

METHODS

The National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent to Adult Health (Add Health) was used in both descriptive and multivariate contexts to determine the net association of gender and race/ethnicity with vaginal and oral sex initiation timing.

RESULTS

Age-cutoffs for vaginal sex timing were similar for women and men, yet differed by gender for oral sex timing. Women were more likely than men to initiate vaginal sex (20% vs. 18%) and oral sex (19% vs. 16%) at an early age and less likely than men to initiate these behaviors at a late age (18% vs. 19% for vaginal sex, and 15% vs. 16% for oral sex). Although most respondents initiated these two behaviors by young adulthood, a considerable proportion remained inexperienced, with men more likely than women to report inexperience with vaginal sex (7% vs. 5%), and women more likely than men to report abstaining from oral sex (8% vs. 6%). Race/ethnic differences in sexual initiation timing remained robust in the face of controls for both women and men.

CONCLUSIONS

Understanding the timing at which adolescents and young adults transition to first vaginal and first oral sex is critical for sex education curriculum and policy makers.