Adolesence
Sexuality: An Adolescent Issue
– Adolescence is the most important time for the development of sexuality.
WHY?
-Puberty
- Children are capable of sexual responses before puberty but it is not until puberty that individuals get an increase in sex drive and become capable of sexual reproduction.
- – The hormonal changes that occur at puberty increase sexual attraction and brings major physical changes that indicate that the child is no longer a child.
-Cognitive Changes
- The nature of sexuality is changed once an individual hits adolescence.
- With sex comes tough decision making, self- conscious concerns, and consequences of their behavior become a major deciding factor on whether or not they should include themselves in sexual activity.
- Morals start effecting whether or not they should engage in sexual activity or not.
– Social Roles
- A new social meaning is given to sexual and dating behavior at adolescence. Sex becomes a very important psychological concern.
- Sexual behavior becomes motivated by the desire of love and social status among peers which I will cover more in depth later on.
SEXUAL ACTIVITY IN ADOLESCENCE
– National surveys show that more adolescents are sexually active at an earlier age today than generations before.
– Sexual intercourse has become a normal activity among adolescents in America.
What Counts as Sexual Activity?
- Kissing
- Noncoital activity (touching parts of each other’s body)
- Oral sex
- Anal sex
- Masturbation ( Autoerotic behavior)
– The median age of adolescent’s first engagement in sexual intercourse is about 16.
– In general, adolescent girls are less engaged in sexual activities than boys.
WHY?
1.The double standard of morality that threatens girls more than boys with harsher punishment for being engaged in sexual activity.
- The media throws out the message out to girls the pressure that they need to be sexually attractive and dress/act seductively when in reality, girls are encouraged by society to not develop sexual needs. “Don’t be a slut.”
2.Girls tend to be more focused on the social implications that come with sex rather than the physical act in itself.
- – Girls tend to fantasize more about their future roles as brides, wives, and mothers.
-Because of the possibility of pregnancy, girls are taught to approach sex more cautiously which leads to their knowledge of the consequences to usually sway their decision on whether or not to engage in sex.
THE DIFFERENCES IN THE MEANING OF SEX
Boys
-More interested in the sexual activity itself
-Sex can be detached and personal
– More likely to mention sexual arousal as a reason for having sex
-First sex partner is often someone they just met
-Usual reaction after sex is satisfaction and happiness
Girls
-More focused on the social implications that come with sex rather than the activity itself
-Sex is usually intimate and romantic
– More likely to engage in sex to enhance emotional connection
-First sex partner is more than likely someone they were in love with
-Usual reaction after sex is feelings of guilt, fear and worry.
INFLUENCES OF SEXUAL ACTIVITY
-Hormones
-Context (peers/ parents)
-Media
- Hormonal Influences
– Adolescents who mature earlier are more likely to engage in sex earlier– Adolescents with higher levels of androgens (testosterone and estrogen) are more likely to to be involved in autoerotic behaviors and plan on having sex sooner.
– Boys with higher testosterone levels want to have sex more- Estrogen influences girls’ sexual activity mainly through its impact on their attractiveness to boys.
- Context (peers/parents)
– Social factors are more important in influencing girls’ involvement in sex than boys’.– Girls’ sexual behavior depends more on social context where for boys it is hormones
-Peers and parents are the most important forces in context- Many studies found that adolescents from authoritative homes are less likely to become sexually active at an early age and less likely to in unprotected sex.
– Adolescents whose parents are in the process of divorce are more likely to be sexually active earlier than their peers.
-Girls growing up in single- parent homes are more likely to to be sexually active at an earlier age.
– Adolescents are more likely to be sexually active if their peers are sexually active because it creates a normative standard that having sex is acceptable.
-Being associated with friends who are involved with drugs/ alcohol also usually lead to having sex at a younger age and engaging in risky sexual behaviors.
- Media
-Adolescents may be exposed to sexual content in the media during the developmental period.-The media, for the most part, portrays sex in a positive light.
-As much as 80% of movies on cable and network television involve sexual material.-More than 80% of adolescents report that their peers find out some or a lot about sex, drugs, and violence from television shows, movies, and other entertainment media.
HOMOSEXUALITY
– Homosexuality is more common for young adolescents than most people think.
– It is not uncommon for young adolescents to engage in sex play with members of the same sex, to have sexual fantasies about those of the same sex, or to have questions about their feelings for same sex peers.
– According to the national Add Health survey, about 6% of boys and 13% of girls reported on having had same-sex attractions, a nonheterosexual orientation, or engaging in same sex activity during adolescence. Between 2% and 5% identify themselves as homosexual or bisexual.
– Boys are more likely to have same- sex relations before identifying themselves as gay or bisexual.
– Girls are more likely to have heterosexual experiences before their first same- sex sexual activity.
SEXUAL ACTIVITY AND PSYCHOLOGICAL DEVELOPMENT
– There are many studies that show that sexual activity in adolescence is not associated with psychological disturbance.
– The prejudices that only troubled adolescents have sex and the belief that sexual activity during adolescence leads to later psychological disturbance are not true.
– Risky sex is related to the same sorts of psychological and behavioral problems with other forms of risk taking.
– Those who engage in sex early (before 16) tend to have a more permissive attitude about sex, experiment with drugs and alcohol, minor delinquency, have low levels of religious involvement, have lower interest in academic achievements, and be more independent.
DANGERS
– With sex comes along dangers such as:
- Sexually Transmitted Diseases
– About 19 million Americans get a new STD every year. Of those 19 million, about 9.1 million are teenagers and young adults. - Sexual Harassment
-According to one study of a nationally representative sample of middle school and secondary school students, more than 80% of girls and 60% of boys felt that they have received unwanted sexual attention while in school. - Teen Pregnancy
– Although teen pregnancy is not much of a danger, it is a struggle that millions of adolescent girls are faced with every day. With teen pregnancy comes along stresses that adolescents have a hard time dealing with.
