Find me
The Developmental Aspects of Sexual Health Laboratory
  • Home
  • People
  • Research Projects
  • Blog
  • Publications
  • Presentations

Early sexual initiation does not have long lasting negative effects on girls' mental health

7/17/2018

0 Comments

 
Wesche, R., Kreager, D. A., Lefkowitz, E. S., & Siennick, S. E., (2017). Early sexual initiation and mental health: A fleeting association or enduring change? Journal of Research on Adolescence, 27, 611-627.
We have several papers on whether having sex is associated with negative wellbeing.  Much of our work in this area has used college student samples, and has generally demonstrated that sex is linked, if anything, to improved wellbeing.
 
However, other evidence suggests that early sexual intercourse (before age 16) is linked to adolescent girls’ anxiety and depression.
 
In this paper, we considered within-person associations between sexual initiation and internalizing symptoms. We used annual data on internalizing symptoms from ninth grade to age 19, as well as data on sexual initiation. In addition to generally examining whether sexual initiation is linked with increased internalizing symptoms, we also examined whether this association decayed over time.
 
We replicated prior research, demonstrating that sexual initiation was associated with increases in internalizing symptoms for early initiating girls. However, we also demonstrated that the association decayed over time. By 1 year after sexual initiation, early initiating girls were similar to girls who initiated later and to girls who were not sexually active. Sexual initiation was not associated with internalizing symptoms for boys, or for girls who initiated at age 16 or older.
 
These findings suggest that, although early sexual initiation may negatively impact female adolescents’ mental health, this association fades with time. As with many other types of disruptive life events, the negative impact of early sexual initiation decreases as girls are farther removed from the event. In fact, based on other research, being sexually active may begin to confer mental health benefits for girls, if they become regularly sexually active.
 
Finally, think about the prevention implications of these findings. Although an abstinence only perspective often states that sexual initiation in adolescence is damaging to wellbeing, our findings indicate that, even for early initiating girls, having sex does not confer long term negative consequences. Scholars consistently argue for the importance of comprehensive sex education, to benefit both girls and boys, whether sexually active or not. These findings are another piece of evidence against abstinence only education, and the complexity of associations between sexual behavior and wellbeing.
 
“Early Sexual Initiation Does Not Have Long Lasting Negative Effects on Girls’ Mental Health first appeared on Eva Lefkowitz’s blog on July 17, 2018.”
0 Comments

Your comment will be posted after it is approved.


Leave a Reply.

    Eva S. Lefkowitz

    I write about professional development issues (in HDFS and other areas), and occasionally sexuality research or other work-related topics. 

    Looking for a post doc? 
    List of HDFS-relevant post docs
    Looking for a fellowship? 
    List of HDFS relevant fellowships, scholarships, and grants
    Looking for an internship?
    List of HDFS-relevant internships
    Looking for a job?
    List of places to search for HDFS-relevant jobs

    Categories

    All
    Adolescent Development
    Being A Grad Student
    Conferences
    Excel
    Gmail
    Grant Proposals
    Job Market
    Mentoring
    Midcareer
    Networking
    PowerPoint
    Publishing
    Research
    Reviewing
    Sexual Health
    Social Media
    SPSS
    Teaching
    Theses & Dissertations
    Transitions
    Undergraduate Advice
    Word
    Work/life Balance
    Writing

    Archives

    February 2022
    May 2021
    January 2021
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    January 2019
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    March 2018
    October 2017
    November 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    May 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014
    April 2014
    March 2014
    February 2014
    January 2014
    December 2013
    November 2013
    October 2013

    Tweets by @EvaLefkowitz

    RSS Feed

    View my profile on LinkedIn

    Enter your email address:

    Delivered by FeedBurner

    Blogs I Read

    Female Science Professor

    The Professor is in

    APA Style Blog

    Thinking About Kids

    Tenure She Wrote

    Prof Hacker

    Andrew Gelman

    Claire Kamp Dush
Proudly powered by Weebly