Sexual behavior among Americans aged 15 to 24

Many young persons in the United States engage in risky sexual behavior and experience negative reproductive health outcomes between 2002 and 2007, according to a report released on July 17 by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The following is part of the CDC report that shows the sexual behavior among the persons aged 15 to 24 years.

Sexual Behaviors

NSFG (the National Survey of Family Growth ) data for 2002 were used to present the percentage of adolescents and young adults who engaged in a range of sexual risk behaviors (Tables 2 and 3). Among female adolescents aged 15--17 years, 30.0% reported ever having had sex, compared with 70.6% of those aged 18--19 years (Table 2). Among adolescent males aged 15--17 years, 31.6% reported ever having had sex, compared with 64.7% of those aged 18--19 years (Table 3). Among females aged 18--24 years, 9.6% who had sex by age 20 years reported having had nonvoluntary first intercourse. Having ever been forced to have intercourse was reported by 14.3% of females aged 18--19 years and 19.1% of females aged 20--24 years (Table 2). Among teenagers aged 15--19 years, 13.1% of females and 14.8% of males reported having had sex at age <15 years (Tables 2 and 3). The majority (58.7%) of females aged 15--19 years reported that their first sex partners were 1--3 years older than they were, and 22.4% reported that their first partners were ≥4 years older than they were (Table 2). Approximately three in 10 female and male adolescents aged 15--19 years reported having had two or more sexual partners (Tables 2 and 3).

Among never-married adolescents aged 15--19 years who were sexually active, 75.2% of females and 82.3% of males reported using a method of contraception at first intercourse. Condom use at first intercourse was reported by 67.5% of females and 70.7% of males (Tables 2 and 3). Adolescents also were likely to have used contraception at their most recent intercourse (83.2% of never-married females and 90.7% of never-married males). Never-married females aged 20--24 years were somewhat more likely than adolescent females to have used contraception at last sex (87.3%) (Table 2); never-married males aged 20--24 years were somewhat less likely than adolescent males to have done so (84.8%) (Table 3).

A substantial majority of adolescents aged 15--19 years (85.5% of females and 82.6% of males) reported having received formal instruction before reaching age 18 years on how to say no to sex, and 69.9% of adolescent females and 66.2% of adolescent males reported receiving instruction on methods of birth control (Tables 2 and 3). Among adolescents aged 18--19 years, 49.8% of females and 35.1% of males had talked with a parent before reaching age 18 years about methods of birth control. Approximately three fourths of adolescents aged 15--17 years (74.6% of females and 71.5% of males) reported having talked to their parents about at least one of five sex education topics included in the survey (Tables 2 and 3).

Use of reproductive and medical services varied by age. For example, 37.6% of females aged 15--17 years and 80.5% of females aged 20--24 years had received at least one family planning or medical service during the preceding 12 months (Table 2). Among males aged 15--19 years, 72.3% received at least one health or family planning service during the preceding 12 months, but that percentage decreased to 51.9% among young adult males aged 20--24 years (Table 3).