Relationships between women's emotional reaction to first coital experience and subsequent sexual risk-taking behaviour

Pathways From Individual Characteristics to Subjective Consequences of Sex: The Mediating Role of Risky Sexual Encounters

Objectives: This study examined associations between young adults' psychological characteristics and psychosocial consequences of sex, and whether risky sexual encounters mediated these associations. Methods: College students (N = 265; Mage = 19.49) completed questionnaires concerning risky sexual relationships, behaviors, situations, and psychosocial consequences during their most recent encounter and over the last year. Results: Sexual restraint indirectly predicted positive consequences of the most recent encounter via risky sexual behaviors. Sexual restraint and permissiveness predicted positive and negative consequences over the past year via risky relationships. Conclusions: Psychological characteristics may influence the likelihood of risky sexual encounters, thereby influencing consequences.

Association between First Sexual Intercourse and Sexual Violence Victimization, Symptoms of Depression, and Suicidal Behaviors among Adolescents in the United States: Findings from 2017 and 2019 National Youth Risk Behavior Survey

The objective of this study was to investigate the association between first sexual intercourse and sexual violence victimization, symptoms of depression, and suicidal ideation among sexually active adolescents in the United States. Data for this study came from the U.S. 2017 and 2019 iterations of the National Youth Risk Behavior Survey. An analytic sample of 6252 adolescents aged 14–18 years old (49.5% female) who reported ever having sexual intercourse was analyzed using Poisson regression. The outcome variables investigated in this study were sexual violence victimization, symptoms of depression, suicidal ideation, a suicide plan, and suicide attempts, and the main explanatory variables were age at first sexual intercourse and forced sexual intercourse. We also analyzed differences by gender and race. Of the 6252 adolescents who reported ever having sexual intercourse, 7.1% had their first sexual intercourse before age 13, and 14.8% experienced forced sexual intercourse. About 16% of adolescents experienced sexual violence during the past year, 42.6% reported symptoms of depression, 23.9% experienced suicidal ideation, 19.3% made a suicide plan, and 11.1% attempted suicide during the past year. In the regression analysis, early sexual intercourse was significantly and positively associated with suicidal ideation (relative risk (RR) = 1.15, 95% Confidence Interval (CI) = 1.02–1.30), suicide plan (RR = 1.18, 95% CI = 1.00–1.38), and suicide attempts (RR = 1.36, 95% CI = 1.15–1.61). Controlling for the effects of covariates, history of forced sexual intercourse was positively associated with the five outcomes examined with the relative risk ranging between 1.59 and 6.01. Findings of this study suggest that history of early or forced sexual intercourse is associated with poor mental health outcomes among adolescents and underscores the importance of developing interventions that offer psychological support in reducing the adverse impact of early sexual intercourse and forced sexual intercourse on adolescent health.