Sexual Debut without Contraception: Can Sex Education Protect the Unprotected?

• In Event: 136 - Open Refereed Roundtable Session
  In Refereed Roundtable 100min: Table 12. Health and Health Behaviors

Abstract

Recent data has shown that the age of sexual debut has increased for youth ages 15 to 19, but this same cohort is presenting the highest rates of sexually transmitted infections (STI). This suggests that when sexual debut occurs, it is accompanied by risky behaviors. Broad access to sex education may be responsible for delaying age of sexual debut, but does it influence contraceptive use at debut? Using a nationally represented data set, this study examined if exposure to various sex education formats would reduce the odds of unprotected first sex. Results indicate that sex education formats focusing on birth control and pregnancy prevention were most successful in reducing unprotected sexual debut for both males and females. Additional comparisons found that females are more likely than males to have unprotected sexual debut, regardless of the sex education format, when compared to their male counterparts.

Author

• Nicole Weller, Indiana University Kokomo