Original article
The Association Between Sex Education and Youth’s Engagement in Sexual Intercourse, Age at First Intercourse, and Birth Control Use at First Sex

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jadohealth.2007.08.002Get rights and content

Abstract

Purpose

Sex education is intended to provide youth with the information and skills needed to make healthy and informed decisions about sex. This study examined whether exposure to formal sex education is associated with three sexual behaviors: ever had sexual intercourse, age at first episode of sexual intercourse, and use of birth control at first intercourse.

Methods

Data used were from the 2002 National Survey of Family Growth, a nationally representative survey. The sample included 2019 never-married males and females aged 15–19 years. Bivariate and multivariate analyses were conducted using SUDAAN. Interactions among subgroups were also explored.

Results

Receiving sex education was associated with not having had sexual intercourse among males (OR = .42, 95% CI = .25–.69) and postponing sexual intercourse until age 15 among both females (OR = .41, 95% CI = .21–.77) and males (OR = .29, 95% CI = .17–.48). Males attending school who had received sex education were also more likely to use birth control the first time they had sexual intercourse (OR = 2.77, 95% CI = 1.13–6.81); however, no associations were found among females between receipt of sex education and birth control use. These patterns varied among sociodemographic subgroups.

Conclusions

Formal sex education may effectively reduce adolescent sexual risk behaviors when provided before sexual initiation. Sex education was found to be particularly important for subgroups that are traditionally at high risk for early initiation of sex and for contracting sexually transmitted diseases.

Section snippets

Sample

The data analyzed were from the 2002 National Survey of Family Growth (NSFG), a nationally representative survey of male and female individuals 15–44 years of age that was designed to provide estimates of sexual activity, use of contraception, and births. The survey methodology has been described previously [23]. The overall response rate among 15–19-year-olds in the 2002 NSFG was 81%. Our sample was limited to males and females aged 15–19 years who had never been married; among respondents who

Discussion

Overall, results suggest that receiving formal sex education before first sex was associated with abstaining from sexual intercourse, delaying initiation of sexual intercourse, and greater use of contraception at first sex. Receiving sex education before first sexual intercourse may help contribute to reaching the Healthy People 2010 goals of reducing the number of adolescents who have sexual intercourse, reducing the number of adolescents younger than age 15 years who have sexual intercourse,

Acknowledgment

The findings and conclusions in this report are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily represent the views of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

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