Decline In Teen Sex Rate Stable Since 2001, CDC Analysis Shows

July 25, 2007 – 11:07 pm | posted in Pediatrics

The decline in the percentage of teenagers having sexual intercourse has stalled after reaching a plateau in 2001, according to a new analysis of data from a nationwide CDC survey, the Washington Post reports. The data were taken from the Youth Risk Behavior Survey, a nationally representative survey of about 13,000 students in grades nine through 12 that CDC conducts biannually, the Post reports.

According to the Post, CDC last year when releasing survey data from 2005 primarily focused on the general shift in sexual behavior from 1991 to 2005. An annual federal report on the state of children in the U.S., released earlier this month, also focused on the shift from 1991 to 2005 (Stein, Washington Post, 7/22). According to that report, released by the Federal Interagency Forum on Child and Family Statistics, 47% of high school students, or 6.7 million, reported having had sexual intercourse in 2005, compared with 54% in 1991. The rate of high school students reporting having sex has remained unchanged since 2003. Sixty-three percent of those who reported having sex during a three-month period in 2005 said they used condoms, compared with 46% in 1991, the report showed (Kaiser Daily Women’s Health Policy Report, 7/13).

In response to a request from the Post, CDC analyzed data from 2001 to 2005 to confirm statistically that the percentage of teens having sex during that period had stalled, for all grades and sexes and across all racial groups, the Post reports. The agency found that “over that time period, there were no changes in the overall percent of high school students who had ever had sex,” Laura Kann, who leads the CDC survey project, said, adding, “It has decreased over the whole time from 1991, but there’s been no change since 2001. There was flatness for all the subgroups for all the variables.”

According to the Post, researchers are awaiting the results from this year’s survey to determine whether the plateau has continued.

Reaction
Experts are unclear why the rate has leveled off, but they say it could be the result of a combination of factors, including increasing complacency among youth about HIV/AIDS and the possibility that some “irreducible portion of the teenage population can never be dissuaded from having sex,” the Post reports.

“At a certain point, it becomes really hard to change basic human behaviors,” John Santelli, who studies teenagers at Columbia University, said, adding, “I think what we’re seeing is the limits of the emphasis on abstinence as the primary message.” However, Leslee Unruh of the National Abstinence Clearinghouse, said, “We need to increase abstinence education and give more dollars to abstinence education. It is the healthiest program we have for young people.”

Some experts are concerned that the leveling off in the teen sex rate might “foreshadow a new upsurge in sexual activity, which could cause teen pregnancy and birth rates to climb again,” the Post reports. Michael Resnick, a teen health expert at the University of Minnesota, said, “My concern is that this plateau is … a harbinger of a reversal of these positive trends.” According to the Post, the survey also indicates that increases in condom use also might be waning. “It’s not showing as strong of a stabilizing trend, but it’s definitely slowing,” David Landry of the Guttmacher Institute said (Washington Post, 7/22).

WBUR’s “On Point” on Monday is scheduled to include a discussion about recent studies on abstinence-only education. Scheduled guests include Claire Brindis, a professor at the University of California-San Francisco; Freda Bush, an ob-gyn and member of the advisory board at the Medical Institute; Cecile Richards, president of Planned Parenthood Federation of America; and Jami Waite, a member of Virginity Rules (”On Point” Web site, 7/23). Audio of the segment will be available online after the broadcast.

“Reprinted with permission from http://www.kaisernetwork.org. You can view the entire Kaiser Daily Health Policy Report, search the archives, or sign up for email delivery at http://www.kaisernetwork.org/dailyreports/healthpolicy. The Kaiser Daily Health Policy Report is published for kaisernetwork.org, a free service of The Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation . © 2005 Advisory Board Company and Kaiser Family Foundation. All rights reserved.

Popularity: 2% [?]