Older Boyfriends and Adolescent Sex

Adolescent girls often date boys who are several years older than they are, and new research says that those girls are more likely to have sexual intercourse with older boys than with boys they date that are the same age.

The study analyzed responses from almost 2,000 girls in the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health, a nationally representative sample of students who were in grades 7 to 12 in 1994-95. Girls were selected for this study if they reported having a male romantic partner in the previous 18 months.

Most of the girls in the study were younger than 17 when they started the relationship and had a boyfriend who was one to five years older. The girls' age at the start of the relationships ranged from 7 to 19 years, with a median of 15. (The term "romantic relationship" is defined by the girls, not by the researchers.)

The male partners ranged from 8 to 44 years, and nearly 10 percent were 20 or older. Only 7 percent of the girls had a partner who was younger, usually by one year.

Forty-three percent of the girls reported having had sexual intercourse with their romantic partners: 24 percent of those 13 or younger at the start of the relationship, 41 percent of those ages 14 to 15, and 59 percent of those 16 or older.

The boy's age had the greatest influence on the sexual activities of the youngest girls: While 9 percent of the girls 13 or younger at the start of the relationship had intercourse with boys the same age or younger, 41 percent of girls in that age group reported having intercourse with partners at least four years older.

In contrast, 55 percent of girls 16 or older had intercourse with partners their own age, compared to 68 percent of 16-year-old girls dating boys at least four years older.

When the researchers focused only on the girls who were no longer dating the boyfriend in question, the likelihood of their having had sex was even greater. For example, 13-year olds with ex-boyfriends at least six years older were 10 times as likely to have had sex with them than were 13-year-olds with ex-boyfriends that were their own age or younger. This may reflect more exploitative relationships, or longer relationships than the current relationships that the girls were involved in

Age differences were not the only predicts of having sex. African-American girls were 70 percent more likely to have sexual intercourse than were white girls, and girls who did not live with a mother figure were more than twice as likely to have intercourse than those who did live with a mother figure. Girls whose mothers had graduated from college were 30 percent less likely to have had sexual intercourse than those whose mothers had not.

There are several possible explanations for why the difference in ages could influence sexual behavior, but the study did not examine those. The researchers speculate that older boys might have more power to persuade girls to engage in sex, and that older boys have longer relationships with girls than do younger boys, so those relationships might be more likely to progress to intercourse.

These are reasonable but unexplored explanations, and there are other equally plausible explanations. The researchers did not mention that older boys and men probably have cars or apartments that offer more opportunity for sexual intercourse. The researchers did not try to determine whether girls who choose to date older boys are more interested in sex than are girls who do not.

The authors offer advice for parents, teachers, school psychologists and others who work with girls, such as asking them about the age of their boyfriends and how that affects the relationship. They suggest that sexuality and health education programs should help the girls identify their own interests and assert their own decisions, and that teachers should recognize that the boys in the programs may be substantially younger than the boys whom the girls are dating.

Reference:
Sexual Intercourse and the Age Difference Between Adolescent Females and Their Romantic Partners,
Christine E. Kaestle, Donald Morisky and Dorothy Wiley,
Perspectives on Sexual and Reproductive Health, Vol. 34, November/December 2002, pgs. 304-5.
Available free at www.guttmacher.org/pubs/journals/3430402.html

 

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More Condoms, Less Sex?

In results that surprised many advocates of sex education in schools, a new study conducted in Massachusetts public schools has found that adolescents enrolled in schools where condoms were available were less likely to report having sexual intercourse than those in schools where they were not available. Less surprisingly, sexually active students in schools that made condoms available were twice as likely to use condoms, compared with students in other schools, but less likely to use other contraceptives.

Few public schools make condoms available; estimates range from 2 percent to 8 percent of high schools, with possibly as many as 42 percent of them in Massachusetts. The reason is that in 1990, the Massachusetts Board of Education adopted a policy urging high schools to consider making condoms available and offering instruction on proper condom use. Approximately 10 percent of Massachusetts districts with high schools approved condom availability programs.

This study examined whether the presence or absence of condom availability programs in Massachusetts high schools influenced adolescent sexual activity.

Condoms were available in five of the 48 randomly selected Massachusetts school districts, representing 15 percent of the high schools in those districts. Twenty percent of the youths attended schools with condom programs. Districts with or without condom programs did not differ in terms of population size, median family income, number of low-income families, suspension/drop-out rate or achievement scores. However, schools with condom programs included more African-Americans than did those without such programs (8 percent vs. 3 percent), more Asians (4 percent vs. 2 percent), more residents with bachelor's degrees (35 percent vs. 23 percent) and more students whose primary language is not English (12 percent vs. 5 percent).

Condoms were distributed through school nurses and other personnel, such as gym teachers and assistant principals. The good news for students who wanted condoms was that parental consent was rarely required; the bad news for the students was that obtaining condoms usually required asking an adult who knew them, rather than putting money in a vending machine.

The results showed that students in schools with condoms available were more likely to have heard a presentation from a person with HIV/AIDS, to have received instruction about preventing HIV and to have been taught in school how to use a condom. These differences could have influenced the results.

Forty-nine percent of youths in schools without condom programs had ever had sexual intercourse, compared with 42 percent in the schools with condom programs. Thirty-five percent of students in schools without condom programs reported having sexual intercourse in the previous three months, compared with 30 percent in the schools with condom programs.

The average age at first intercourse did not vary, nor did the number of recent sexual partners or the youths' perceptions of how difficult it was to obtain condoms. In fact, approximately 39 percent of students said they were likely to obtain condoms in school, whether the school had a condom program or not - suggesting that the students were able to get condoms from other students at school if they weren't available through a school program.

Two-thirds of students in schools with condom programs reported having used a condom during their most recent sexual encounters, compared with only 52 percent of those in schools without a condom program. Although students in schools without condom programs were more likely to use other contraceptives (21 percent vs. 10 percent), that did not completely make up for the lower condom use.

However, some other contraceptives are more effective in preventing pregnancy. This probably explains why the pregnancy rates were not different in schools with or without condom programs. Differences in HIV rates were not evaluated.

Adolescents in schools with condom programs were less likely to have ever had sex or to have had sex recently, whether or not they had condom instruction. However, the instruction is still important, because it probably increases the likelihood that the condom will be used effectively.

Do the results mean that making condoms available in schools decreases sexual activity? Not necessarily. The schools that made condoms available apparently did a better job of educating their students about HIV/AIDS. The parents were more highly educated. And there were other differences between the schools with and without condom programs that may have influenced the students' sexual activity.

It is possible that making condoms available in schools reduces sexual activity by discouraging unprotected sex. For example, a girl might feel empowered to say no unless her boyfriend obtains condoms, and that might take a while since asking school personnel for condoms is probably embarrassing for many students.

Speculation aside, this study certainly suggests that making condoms available in school does not encourage students to have sex. The results also indicate that schools that are more actively educating their students about the risks of sex and making condoms available and instructing students in condom use are creating an atmosphere that reduces rather than encourages sexual intercourse.

Reference:
Condom Availability Programs in Massachusetts High Schools: Relationships with Condom Use and Sexual Behavior,
Susan Blake, Rebecca Ledsky, Carol Goodenow, et al,
American Journal of Public Health, Vol. 93, June 2003, pgs 955-961,
Available from Blake at smblake1@aol.com.

 

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Teen Pregnancy and Intelligence

The stereotype of young teen mothers is that they tend to be from low-income families and not as bright as other teenagers. A national study indicates that the stereotype is correct.

The researchers focused on more than 2,000 14- to 22-year-old women who participated in the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth, conducted by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, and followed them for 16 years. They compared young women who had a first baby before the age of 18 with teens of the same age, race, ethnicity, geographic location and urban/rural status who did not have babies.

The young teen moms had lower cognitive scores on a standardized test than the other girls, and those who went on to have a second baby before the age of 20 had even lower cognitive scores. The test was the Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery, which was designed by the military to measure 10 areas of knowledge and abilities, including reasoning, comprehension and knowledge.

Two-thirds of the early teen moms scored in the bottom half of national scores on the test, and only 11 percent were in the top quarter. Of those who had a second child before 20, 70 percent scored in the bottom half on the test and only 7 percent were in the top quarter.

Girls who had children early also had their first sexual intercourse an average of almost two years earlier than their classmates (15.2 years compared to 17.5 years). They were also less likely to have had a sexuality education course (47 percent compared to 65 percent) and were less likely to know when during the menstrual cycle women are most fertile (25 percent compared to 36 percent).

Sexual experience is only part of the reason for the difference in pregnancy rates. On average, the girls with the lowest intelligence scores had sexual intercourse for the first time 1.4 years earlier than those with the highest cognitive scores, which is not an enormous difference.

Early teen moms also tended to grow up in families below the poverty level, and their educational goals were two years lower than those of other girls. Not surprisingly, lower cognitive scores were linked to poverty and low aspirations. However, the link between cognitive scores and teen pregnancy was still significant when poverty and aspirations were controlled.

There are many possible explanations for the link between teen pregnancy, intelligence and knowledge, and this study can't determine which are most important. For example, smarter girls and girls who do better in school might be more likely to use birth control correctly, or to be more motivated to avoid pregnancy or childbirth so that they can succeed in educational or career goals.

A less intelligent or accomplished girl might be more easily influenced by her sexual partner, especially if he is smarter than she is. This is consistent with research on age differences, which shows that girls with much older boyfriends are more likely to have sex and to become pregnant. In addition, less capable girls, especially those who are mentally retarded or borderline retarded, would be expected to have poorer judgement and be less able to consider the consequences of their sexual activity.

Although it raises interesting questions, this study has a rather important shortcoming: The data were collected between 1979 and 1990. As sexuality education has become more available and as unmarried mothers have become more accepted, it is possible that cognitive abilities are less important in predicting teen motherhood. Unfortunately, it is not possible to tell from this study.

Reference:
Association of Early Childbearing and Low Cognitive Ability
Darlene Shearer, Beverly Mulvihill, Lorraine Klerman and others
Perspectives on Sexual and Reproductive Health, Vol. 34, No 5, September/October 2002, pp. 304-309.
Available free at www.guttmacher.org/pubs/journals/3423602.html

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Morning After Pills

    Our nation’s nasty public debate over abortion has prevented many girls and women who have had unprotected sex, including victims of rape, from gaining the information they need to prevent an unwanted pregnancy.

    "Emergency contraceptives" or "morning after pills" are medical products that prevent pregnancy after intercourse has taken place. They are different from abortions, because they prevent pregnancy either by delaying the woman’s ovulation or by preventing the fertilized egg from being implanted in the uterus. A supplemental issue of the Journal of the American Medical Women’s Association consists of 17 articles about this procedure, including safety, side effects, and awareness among physicians, pharmacists, and adolescents.

    Although emergency contraception has been available for several decades, many girls and women never knew it existed, and it is only recently that products have been sold specifically for that purpose. The two most widely accepted emergency contraceptives are birth control pills or inserting an IUD after sex.

    The most common is the use of a higher than usual dose of birth control pills within three days after unprotected intercourse. Birth control pills have been used as emergency contraceptives since the mid-1960’s, but this "off label" use was not approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) until 1997. Instead of using part of a monthly pack of birth control pills, the pills are now sold under the name Preven in a special emergency contraceptive pack of 4 pills. It is not possible to determine exactly how effective these pills are (since they prevent something that hasn’t happened yet), but approximately 8 of 100 women will become pregnant following one act of unprotected intercourse in the second or third week in a menstrual cycle, and about 75% of those pregnancies will be prevented when birth control pills are used as emergency contraceptives.

    According to the most recent studies, almost half the girls or women who use birth control pills for this purpose report nausea, and one in four report vomiting. Other pills are being tested for use, and are believed to be safe with fewer side effects. However, there is not enough research to conclude whether or not they are safe.

    One of the most interesting articles is entitled "Inner-City Adolescents’ Awareness of Emergency Contraception by Alwyn Cohall, MD from the Harlem Center for Health Promotion and Disease Prevention, and his colleagues. A voluntary questionnaire was distributed to all 250 adolescents attending a hospital-based primary care clinic. All the adolescents were African American or Hispanic.

    Although only 6 percent of the adolescents were in the clinic for a pregnancy test, 139 (71%) had ever been sexually active. Of those 139, 14 was the average age of first sexual intercourse for boys and girls, and on average, they reported an average of 7 partners in their lifetime (11 for boys, 3.6 for girls).

    Ninety percent had sexual intercourse during the previous six months, but 53% of them had not used contraception. Nevertheless, more than half of the sexually active teens reported being worried about pregnancy and two-thirds stated that "not getting pregnant in the next year" is a high priority.

    Most disturbing, when asked what steps could be taken to reduce the chances of pregnancy after unprotected intercourse, 84 percent could not even guess. Most of those that answered suggested douching, showering, urinating, jumping up and down, and drinking various concoctions. Only 22 percent of those that answered specified they would get "morning after pills" or emergency contraception.

    Although the study was conducted in 1996, the year before FDA approved Preven, the existence of emergency contraception was much higher among the general population than it was among these high risk teens. For example, a phone survey of adults between 18 and 44 two years earlier had found 61 percent of women and 45 percent of men had heard of emergency contraception. The responses were slightly higher in a phone interview in 1997.

    The studies show that the adolescents who most need information about emergency contraception are especially unlikely to have it. This information is easy to get: there is an Emergency Contraception Hotline (1-888-NOT-2-LATE).

Reference:
Journal of the American Medical Women’s Association (JAMWA)
Vol 53, Number 5
A Special Issue on Emergency Contraception
Available free at http://www.jamwa.org/vol53/toc53_5.html

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HIV is Increasing Dramatically Among Teen Girls

    Since early in the epidemic, AIDS was carefully tracked by the Centers for Disease Control. However, now that drugs can delay the onset of AIDS, it is essential to study the spread of HIV – the virus that causes AIDS -- to truly understand how the disease is spreading. Fortunately, confidential reporting laws require doctors in a growing number of states to report cases of HIV and not just AIDS. In an article of the summer 2001 issue of Journal of the American Medical Women’s Association, Lisa Lee and Patricia Fleming analyzed CDC reports from 1994 to 1998 among women ages 15 to 44 from the first 25 states that initiated this program.

    There were more than 24,000 new diagnoses of HIV among women during that time period. The number increased 4 percent from 1994 to 1995 and then declined 12 percent over the next three years.

    The news was not good for young women, however. For teenage women between 15 and 19, the number contracting HIV from heterosexual contact increased 117 percent from 1994 to 1998. The number contracting HIV through injected drug use increased 90 percent during the same time period. In comparison, the number of older women who contracted HIV from heterosexual contact was stable or declined between 1994-98, and the number who contracted HIV from drug use declined by at least 31 percent.

    In her commentary in the same journal, Dr. Ellie Schoenbaum pointed out that HIV is increasing in adolescence and continuing into young adulthood, and that "Open discussion about HIV and its prevention in the context of adolescent peer groups may be most effective" in preventing this increase. She praised some specific efforts; for example, as part of an annual AIDS Awareness Day, some New York City high schools invite HIV-infected individuals to talk to students and answer questions.

    Schoenbaum expresses concern that the most effective and convenient forms of birth control (birth control pills or Depo-Provera) do not prevent HIV, and it is difficult to convince teens to use two different kinds of contraceptives. She reports that in her experience, some adolescent girls prefer condoms because "sex is neater" and they prefer "less contact with the secretions," and she suggests that adults therefore use those reasons to encourage condom use among teens.

    The bottom line of both articles: AIDS is in all 50 states, including many communities that are not thought of as HIV epicenters, and among many girls that would not be considered at risk. It will save lives to warn girls and boys about the increase in HIV among girls across the country, and by counseling teens about the most effective ways to avoid HIV exposure.

For more information:

Trends in HIV Diagnoses Among Women in the United States, 1994-1998
Lisa M. Lee, Ph.D and Patricia L. Fleming, Ph.D.
and
Trends in HIV Among Adolescents: Implications for the Clinician
Ellie E. Schoenbaum, MD

Both articles in Journal of the American Medical Women’s Association, Vol 56, No. 3, Summer 2001. Abstracts for both articles available free at www.jamwa.org.

 

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Adolescents Take Risks with AIDS

    Teenage gay and bisexual boys are risking their lives by ignoring safe sex, according to interviews conducted with boys in seven major U.S. cities, in a study by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the public health departments.

    More than 40 percent of the 3,500 boys studied said they had engaged in unprotected anal sex within the previous 6 months, and more than one-third did not know their HIV status, according to Linda Valleroy, Ph.D., who reported the findings at a recent national CDC-sponsored HIV prevention conference. Boys who were younger (15-19 years old), Asian, or more secretive about having sex with males were less likely to have been tested for HIV. Nearly half of those who had not been tested said that they believed they were at low risk for HIV.

    Researchers offered HIV testing to those participating in the study, and 7 percent were found to be infected with the virus. Those who were African American or mixed race were twice as likely to be infected.

    The boys in the study were between the ages of 15-22 and were interviewed at "known social gathering places for gay men" in Baltimore, Dallas, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Miami, Seattle, and New York City between 1994-98.

    HIV is no longer perceived as a death sentence by young men who are just now becoming sexually active, and this is the likely reason why many are not being tested, and not being careful. They are less likely to have friends who have died of AIDS. "The epidemic will get worse if we don’t talk to kids about how dangerous unprotected sex still is" Dr. Valleroy told me. "Most adults are reluctant to talk to kids about sex, or ask about safe sex, but it’s really important that they do so."

Reference:
Complacency Feeds Rampant Sexual Risk Taking
Todd Zwillich
Pediatric News
October 1999

 

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Teen Love as a Four Letter Word

    Why are some teen romances so violent? Seven of the 10 articles of this journal, which is published by the American Professional Society on the Abuse of Children, attempt to answer that question.

    In their introductory article, "When Love is Just a Four Letter Word," the editors point out that researchers who study romantic relationships and those that study victimization have little contact with each other. Unfortunately, there is so much overlap that the two need to be studied together. This special section is intended to begin to bridge that gap.

    In "Dating Experiences of Bullies in Early Adolescence," Jennifer Connolly and her colleagues found that bullies in grades five through eight tended to start puberty earlier, start dating earlier, and reported less emotionally supportive relationships with friends. They were also more likely to report being the perpetrator and the victim of physical and social aggression, such as slapping, kicking, choking, beating up, punching, threatening with a knife, spreading rumors, and "getting even." The almost 200 self-identified bullies and 200 non-bullies were mostly middle-class Canadians.

    In a study of adolescent girls who had been abused between the ages 6-15, Jennie Noll and her colleagues evaluated the girls’ relationships when they were between the ages of 12 and 25. In their article, "Social Network Constellation and Sexuality of Sexually Abused and Comparison Girls in Childhood and Adolescence," Noll reports that abuse has a long-term negative impact. Girls who had been abused grew up to be more preoccupied with sex and more likely to have their first voluntary sexual intercourse at an earlier age, although their attitudes about sex were not different from girls who had not been abused. In a finding that may surprise many youth workers, girls who had more friendships with males, whether or not they had been abused, tended to have sex earlier, have more sexual partners, and were less likely to use birth control. Early sexual dating experiences also predicted the likelihood of at least one abortion in later years.

    Adults were found to be important influences in the lives of these girls, whether they were abused or not. For example, girls who have high-quality relationships with female adults (whether mothers, teachers, or other relatives or role models) are less likely to engage in casual sex. Sexually abused girls who report happier relationships with adult men (relatives, teachers, etc.) are less likely to grow up to be preoccupied with sex. In contrast, the quality of relationships with girls their own age did not influence girls’ later sexual attitudes or activities.

    Anna Smalley Flanagan and Wyndol Furman did a study of high school seniors and college undergraduates, which found that coerced sexual activity was quite common. In "Sexual Victimization and Perceptions of Close Relationships in Adolescence" more than half the college girls reported some form of sexual victimization; for example, unwanted kissing or fondling resulting from a man’s continual arguments (47 percent) or physical force (16 percent), or unwanted sexual intercourse resulting from a man’s continual arguments (28 percent), drugs or alcohol (10 percent), or physical force (13 percent). Most of the offenders were boyfriends or lovers (41 percent), casual dates (23 percent), or nonromantic acquaintances (37 percent). Those who had been victimized tended to have more dating partners.

    When the same authors studied high school seniors, they found that almost half reported some kind of sexual victimization, including unwanted kissing or fondling resulting from a man’s continual arguments (35 percent) or physical force (6 percent), or unwanted sexual intercourse subsequent to continual arguments (27 percent), alcohol or drugs (8 percent), or physical force (4 percent). The proportion of perpetrators that were boyfriends, casual dates, or nonromantic acquaintances was almost identical to the college women.

    In both age groups, more than two-thirds of the women reported more than one experience of being sexually victimized, sometimes by the same person. The authors were especially disturbed to see that the first victimization usually occurred in high school; in fact, the percentage of high school seniors who reported experiencing unwanted sexual intercourse was similar to the percentage among college women.

    These compelling findings have important implications for teens and the adults who care for and about them. Coercion, whether verbal or physical, is clearly a common element of teen "romances," and teens and adults could help prevent these incidents and support the victims through their advice, support, and information for high school students. What’s still lacking, unfortunately, is good research to guide us on the most effective way to do this.

Reference:
Victimization and Romantic Relationships in Adolescence
Special section of Child Maltreatment, November 2000, Vol 5, No. 4
Guest editors: Candice Feiring and Wyndol Furman
Available for $25 from www.sagepub.com or 805 499-9774

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Dating Violence and Foster Care

    Many children in foster care have experienced violence, and there is good reason to be concerned that they may become victims or perpetrators of violence in the future. A recent study suggests that teenagers in foster care may be at risk for violence in their dating relationships.

    Youth who were participating in a one-time presentation on dating violence that was part of an Independent Living Skills program in three California counties were asked to complete a voluntary survey. Nine of every ten agreed, approximately two-thirds of whom were juniors or seniors.

    Of the 85 teens who had started dating, almost half (48%) reported involvement in some type of dating violence, either as a victim or perpetrator. Even more, 60%, reported witnessing physical, sexual, or verbal violence in family of origin. Surprisingly, 42% of those who experienced dating violence were both victim and perpetrator. Girls were more likely than boys to report being victims (37% Vs 11%), but equally likely to report inflicting harm (16% Vs 15%).

    Dating violence included physical violence, sexual violence, threats, or verbal abuse. Most of the teenagers who had been victims of violence stated that they did not report it to an adult, but 70% of the victims and 60% of the perpetrators reported it to someone.

    Statistical analyses were used to determine the traits that predicted whether a teen would be a victim of violence. Being a girl, being a perpetrator, and having more than three dating partners predicted being a victim. Witnessing violence was not a statistically significant predictor of being a victim of violence.

    More than 80% of those in violent relationships continued to date the same person after violence occurred. The proportion was even higher, 91%, for those who experienced physically violent relationships. Violence recurred in more than 60% of the cases.

    Since only 13 teens admitted harming a date physically or forcing them to perform sexual acts, there were too few to determine statistically significant predictors.

    The teens who participated in this program are probably not typical of all foster children, since they signed up to attend a presentation on dating violence. The researchers point out that the proportion reporting violence in their dating relationships, although high, is similar to other studies on teenagers. However, the proportion staying in an abusive relationship was higher than those reported in studies of a general population of teenagers, but similar to a study of teens from abusive homes.

    The youth had sought out help by attending the talk, and when asked if they wanted more information or wanted to participate in a more intensive program to learn how to avoid violent relationships, more than two-thirds said yes to each. The most important message for youth workers may be that there are teenagers who want help with these problems, and youth workers need to find ways to provide that help.

Reference:
Foster Youth and Dating Violence
Melissa Jonson-Reid and Lisa Bivens, Washington University
Journal of Interpersonal Violence, Vol. 14, No. 12, December 1999, 1249-1262
Available from Dr. Johnson-Reid at: 1 Brookings Dr., Campus Box 1196, St Louis, MO 63130

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Fatherhood Puts Boys at Risk

    We know relatively little about teen fatherhood, although research has shown that teen fathers are more likely to use drugs, have school problems, and get into other kinds of trouble. The exact number of teen fathers is unknown, but the National Center for Health Statistics reports that the rate of teen fathers grew substantially between 1986 and 1996. Their studies indicate that approximately 2.3 percent of males between 15 and 19 became fathers in 1996, but government experts believe that the number is probably higher.

    This new report is based on data from the Program of Research on the Causes and Correlates of Delinquency, which is a study of more than 4000 participants who have been interviewed for more than a decade in Rochester, NY; Denver; and Pittsburgh.

Rochester Youth Study

    The Rochester Youth Development Study tracked 615 urban males from 1988 through 1996, interviewing them on a regular basis starting in seventh or eighth grade. Seven (1 percent) became fathers at the age of 15; 28 percent became fathers before they were 20. Fatherhood was especially likely among high frequency drug users: 70 percent were teen fathers compared to 24 percent of those who never or rarely used drugs. Similarly, almost half (47 percent) of the high-rate delinquents became teen fathers compared to only 23 percent of those who never or rarely engaged in delinquent behavior. These differences were statistically significant.

    Race, parent's educational levels, and youth's reading levels were also related to teen fatherhood. Even when these were statistically controlled, there was a cluster of problem behaviors that were related to teen fatherhood: chronic drug use (which more than doubled the likelihood of teen fatherhood), sexual intercourse before age 16, gang membership, and violent behavior. Nine risk factors were evaluated in the study, and boys with more risk factors were more likely to become teen fathers.

Pittsburgh Youth Study

    The Pittsburgh study followed 506 inner city adolescent males from 1988 to 1993.. Twelve percent became fathers before their 19th birthday; the youngest was only 14. These 62 teenagers fathered 82 children.

    Unlike the Rochester study, early drug use was not strongly related to fatherhood, but delinquency was. Sixteen percent of frequent drug users became teen fathers, compared to 12 percent of those who never or rarely used drugs. However, high-rate delinquents were more than twice as likely to become teen fathers (19 percent) compared to those who never or rarely engaged in delinquent behaviors (9 percent), a statistically significant difference.

    Other factors which put boys at risk for becoming fathers included being cruel to people, being raised on welfare, or having been offered drugs or witnessed a drug deal. Personal traits related to teen fatherhood included race, early sexual activity, mother's low education, and low school achievement. When these were controlled, the greatest predictor was being older than other boys in the same grade. Every factor that predicted fatherhood also predicted delinquency, but not every factor that predicted delinquency predicted fatherhood.

    In a study like this, a crucial question is whether fatherhood causes the other problems or vice versa. The hope was that fatherhood would instill a sense of responsibility, but the results indicate the opposite: becoming a father seems to make matters worse. The researchers compared boys who later became fathers to boys of the same race, age, and neighborhood who did not become fathers. Before fatherhood, there were no differences in delinquency, but four years after fatherhood, the teen fathers were 2.5 times more likely to have become serious delinquents. In fact, the year they became fathers they were 7.5 times more likely to commit a serious delinquent act. The fathers and non-fathers did not differ in terms of violent activities; the difference was in other kinds of crime, such as car theft and burglary.

    The implications are clear: parenthood is as bad for boys as it is for girls, and teen fathers are likely to be especially miserable role models and providers. Prevention efforts are therefore as crucial for boys as they are for girls.

Reference:
Teenage Fatherhood and Delinquent Behavior
Terence Thornberry, Evelyn Wei, Magda Stouthamer-Loeber, & Joyce Van Dyke
Juvenile Justice Bulletin
US Dept of Justice, Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJP)
January 2000
Available free from the Juvenile Justice Clearinghouse at 800 638-8736, 301 519-5212 (fax) or puborders@ncjrs.org or www.ojjdp.ncjrs.org

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Less Sex, More Condoms, Fewer Teen Births

    It looks like good news, but what does the steady decline in the nation’s teen birth rate really mean? According to a new report from Child Trends, it really is good news: since the early 1990’s teens have been less likely to have sex and more likely to use contraceptives when having sex for the first time.

    The report is based on several large, federally-funded national studies. In 1995, half of all high school girls reported ever having sex, compared to 53 percent in 1988. The decrease for boys (interesting, but not necessarily related to teen birth rates) was from 60 percent to 55 percent. The major news here is not the small decrease, but the fact that the percentages did not increase, as they generally did in the 1980’s.

    The trends were in the opposite direction for Hispanic girls, however. While white and black teens showed decreases in ever having sex between 1988 and 1995, Hispanic females reported increases from 49 percent to 55 percent. In 1995, black teens were the most likely to be sexually experienced (60 percent), followed by Hispanic teens (55 percent) and white teens (50 percent).

    Even teens who were sexually experienced were not necessarily sexually active. In 1997 only 37 percent of teenage girls and 33 percent of teenage boys reported having sex in the last three months. Surprisingly, the percentage of high school boys who were sexually active had steadily declined from 43 percent in 1990, but the percentages for girls increased from 1990-95 and then declined back to the 1990 level in 1997.

    Sexual experience dramatically increases during the high school years. In 1995, approximately one in four 15-year-olds reported that they had sex at least once (27 percent of boys and 25 percent of girls), and by age 17 this more than doubled to 59 percent of males and 52 percent of females.

    The decrease in teen births is probably mostly due to increase in contraceptive use for teens having sex for the first time. In 1982, only 48 percent of girls ages 15-19 used contraception the first time they had sex, but by 1995, that increased to 76 percent. The use of contraceptives for the first sexual intercourse increased among girls in all racial/ethnic groups, although Hispanic girls were least likely (only 58 percent), compared to blacks (68 percent) and whites (82 percent).

    The increased in condom use among teens having sex for the first time was the reason. The percentage of teen girls using condoms when they had sex for the first time almost tripled, from 23 percent in 1982 to 63 percent in 1995. (In contrast, the percentage of teens using condoms the most recent time they had sex remained constant, at slightly higher than one of every four teens.) The number of girls using birth control pills when they had sex for the first time remained low, ranging from 3 percent for Hispanic girls, 8 percent of white girls, and 15 percent of black girls in 1995. Fortunately, the percentage of girls using withdrawal as a contraceptive method decreased from 13 percent in 1982 to only 4 percent in 1995. Long-term contraceptives such as Norplant and Depo Provera are used by less than 1 percent of girls having sex for the first time.

    There is bad news about contraceptive use generally, however. Teens are becoming increasingly careless about contraceptive use; the likelihood that teens used contraceptives when they most recently had sex declined, from 77 percent in 1988 to 69 percent in 1995. Use of contraceptives among black teens remained high, but use by Hispanic teens decreased from 69 percent to 53 percent, and white teens decreased from 80 percent to 71 percent.

    Decreasing fear of HIV/AIDS may be the reason. However, this decline is probably also related to a decrease in the use of birth control pills, from 42 percent to 23 percent for the most recent sexual intercourse. The use of long term contraceptives, which have only been available since the early 1990, made up for less than half of the decline in the use of the pill.

Reference:
Trends in Sexual Activity and Contraceptive use Among Teens
Elizabeth Terry, MPP and Jennifer Manlove, Ph.D.
Child Trends Research Brief
Free copy available at www.childtrends.org/r_resbrief.cfm or call 202 362-5580

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Dolls Are Not a Substitute for Babies

    Adults assume that teenagers would be less likely to get pregnant if they knew how hard it is to care for a baby. That was the theory behind the development of Baby Think it Over (BTIO), a computerized infant simulator doll. Unfortunately, a new study suggests the doll doesn’t work, at least not with girls who are already aware that babies are a lot of work.

    The study evaluated 6^th and 8^th grade girls, ages 10-15, attending an urban middle school in a primarily lower socio-economic Hispanic neighborhood. The girls, who had never been pregnant, were asked to care for the "baby" for 3 days and 2 nights. Afterwards, they were asked about their experiences with the doll.

    Less than one of every three girls thought that taking care of a real infant would be similar to caring for the computerized baby. The eighth graders were especially unlikely to think it would be similar, with 37% saying that a real baby would be easier. The girls who found it more difficult to care for the doll were most likely to think a real baby would be easier.

    On average, the 6^th graders thought that taking care of BTIO was about as difficult as expected, and most 8^th graders thought it was easier than expected. It is therefore not surprising that the baby doll did not have the intended impact on the girls desire to become teen parents: of the 109 girls in the study, 13 (12%) wanted to be teen parents before they cared for BTIO, and 16 (15%) wanted to be teen parents after they cared for the doll.

    The researchers concluded that the doll was not effective for these girls, partly because the girls were already aware that babies are a lot of work. Perhaps more important, they note that kids this age tend to see themselves as immune to potential dangers. The authors refer to this as the "personal fable of omnipotence," which enables them to "overlook the negative aspects of any parenting experience they have."

Reference:
Does Mothering a Doll Change Teens’ Thoughts about Pregnancy?
Judith Krawewski, RN, MSN, and Catherine Stevens-Simon, M.D.
Pediatrics, Vol. 105, No. 3, March 2000, p. e30
Available free from www.pediatrics.org/cgi/content/full/105/3/e30 or from Judith Krawewski at 630 Redwood Ave, Corte Madera, CA 94925

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Boyfriends, Violence, and Teen Pregnancy

    Many low-income girls are at risk for domestic violence, as well as pregnancy due to birth control sabotage, according to a new study by the Center for Impact Research (formerly the Taylor Institute) in Chicago.

    The Center is well known for its research on the link between welfare and domestic violence among adults, but this study shows that many low-income teenage girls have similar experiences. The study was based on a survey of 474 young mothers on welfare, ranging between 11 and 21, and in-depth interviews with 16 of these girls and young women. The average age of the girls was 18, and most were between 15 and 17 when their first child was born. On average, their boyfriends were three and a half years older. Since the study was conducted on Chicago's west side and south side, almost all (95 percent) were African American, and 4 percent were Hispanic.

    Most (81 percent) of the girls state that they currently have a boyfriend, and on average they describe the relationship as lasting 2.7 years. The boyfriends range in age from 16 to 44, with an average of 22. Only about half the boyfriends were employed.

    Most (55 percent) of the girls had experienced some type of violence at the hands of their boyfriends during the last 12 months, and only 27 percent of these experienced only verbal violence. Forty-one percent of them reported severe physical violence, such as beatings, rape, injury, and assault.

    A girl's educational attainment was unrelated to whether she was a victim of domestic violence, but the boyfriends who were more educated were less likely to engage in the most violent behaviors.

    The girls' efforts to avoid pregnancy were sabotaged by boyfriends' words and behavior. Almost half (48 percent) of the girls reported their boyfriends saying things like "you want to use birth control so you can sleep around with other men" or "You would have my baby if you really loved me." Fourteen percent stated that their boyfriends wouldn't let them use birth control, or forced them to have sex when they were not using any protection. For example, one girl reported that her boyfriend flushed her birth control pills down the toilet. Other girls reported using depo provera shots to avoid pregnancy, so their boyfriends wouldn't find out.

    Two-thirds of the girls who reported that their boyfriends were violent towards them also reported birth control sabotage. This was almost twice as high as the 34 percent of girls who reported birth control sabotage who were not victims of violence. Verbal sabotage was almost that high (62 percent compared to 31 percent) and behavioral sabotage was reported by 22 percent of the victims of violence and 5 percent of the other girls.

    The highest level of verbal sabotage was rare among boys ages 20 and younger, but was used by 20 percent of the boyfriends who were 26 and older.

    Similarly, the more violent boys were more likely to sabotage the girls' efforts to go to school or to a job, by tearing up her books or homework, keeping her up all night, or promising to babysit or take her to school or work and not showing up.

    Jody Raphael, Executive Director of the Center for Impact Research, tells us that any parents, teachers, or other adults who want to help teens avoid pregnancy need to understand the relationship between unprotected sex and domestic violence, and should talk to the girls about it. She also warned that long-term relationships are not necessarily a good sign for these girls; in some cases the men are "looming" in an unhealthy way over the girls lives.

Reference:
Domestic Violence and Birth Control Sabotage: A Report from the Teen Parent Project
Mary Ellen Konieczny
Center for Impact Research, 926 North Wolcott, Chicago, Ill 60622
Available free from Ctrimpact@att.net or call 773 342-0630

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Dating Violence: A Two Way Street, But Girls Are Hurt Most

    This new study of students between 13 and 18 indicates that dating is often a time of conflict and abuse, primarily against girls. Questionnaires were distributed to 635 students in 23 gym classes in a large midwestern high school. The classes were the only segregated classes that the school would make available for research, and it is assumed that the students would be typical of students in the school.

    Approximately one-third of all students, male and female, reported some experience with physical violence in a dating relationship. If you stop with that statistic, it seems like violence is no different for girls than for boys. However, by asking questions about the type of violence, the severity, whether it hurt, and what caused it, it became clear that the "violence" against boys is frequently a clap, pinch, or bite as the girls "fought back" against boys who tried to initiate sexual activity or were violent toward them.

    For example, girls were much more likely to report being punched or forced to engage in sexual activity against their will. Boys, on the other hand, were more likely to be pinched, slapped, scratched, and kicked. More than half (56 percent) of the boys reported that they were not hurt at all, more than half reported laughing at the experience, and one-third reported that they ignored it. In contrast, almost half (48 percent) of the girls reported that the boy hurt her a lot or caused bruises or SHE needed medical attention as a result of the abuse.

    The boys and girls were surprisingly consistent in blaming the aggression on the boys. Girls reported that dating violence was initiated by the boys 70 percent of the time, and boys reported that the girls initiated abuse only 27 percent of the time. However, the boys were more likely to say that both they and their partner were to blame. Of the boys who said they had been physically attacked by a girl, 17 percent reported it was because they had been making sexual advances. Many more (37 percent) of the girls who were attacked said it was because the boy had been making SEXUAL advances.

    Twice as many boys as girls (21 percent compared to 10 percent) reported that their own jealousy was the reason for the violence against them. More than one-third (37 percent) of the boys said they were drunk when they were physically attacked, compared to only 9 percent of the girls.

    The bad news for parents and other adults is that they are unlikely to be told about these incidents, making it difficult to deal with the problem. Less than 3 percent of boys or girls reported the incident to an authority figure, such as a teacher, police, or counselor, and only 6 percent reported it to a family member. More than 30 percent told no one at all, and 61 percent told a friend.

    On the other hand, these incidents are not always taking place in private. Forty-two percent of the boys and 43 percent of the girls reported that the incidents occurred in a school building or on school grounds. And although most of the incidents took place when the couple was alone, another boy or girl or group of people was present nearly half the time. That means that there are bystanders witnessing the abuse who need to do more to stop it, either by showing their concern or getting help.


Reference:
Gender and Contextual Factors in Adolescent Dating Violence
Christian Molidor, Ph.D., Richard Tolman, Ph.D., and Jennifer Kober, M.S.W
The Prevention Researcher
February 2000, Vol 7, No. 1
For copy call Jan Bartunek (800) 929-2955 ext. 19

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