Teenaged drinking can have numerous negative outcomes, but a new study reveals that it may also have lasting negative physical and psychosocial effects when paired with an adolescent’s first sexual experience.
“When an adolescent screens positive for drinking, pediatricians should also be talking to them about the sexual risks associated with drinking contexts,” says Jennifer A Livingston, PhD, senior research scientist at the Research Institute on Addictions at the University of Buffalo, in New York and lead author of the study. “There is a strong cultural expectation that drinking fuels and excuses casual sexual encounters. Many teenagers have gotten the messages about condom use, but they do not realize that hooking up with someone who is significantly older, not well known, or having sex with several different partners over time, increases their chances of encountering an aggressive or infected partner.”
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In addition to the physical risks, alcohol use during early sexual encounters can also have lasting psychosocial effects.
“For young women, using alcohol at first sex actually decreases their sexual agency, that is, their control over their own bodies. This can have lasting effects on their sexual health,” says Livingston.
About half of all teenagers initiate intercourse before the end of high school. While researchers say that this behavior is both normal and a part of healthy development, adolescents are also at risk of many significant health issues as a result, ranging from unintended pregnancy to sexually transmitted diseases (STDs).
Identifying the conditions that transform normal and healthy sexual behavior to risky behavior may help lead to the development of better policies and practices to prevent negative outcomes and promote improved sexual well-being, according to the report.
The study examined nearly 300 young adults aged 18 to 20 years in New York via written surveys and personal interviews. Within that cohort, the median age at which alcohol was first consumed was 14.25 years, and first coitus was at 15.70 years. One quarter of those surveyed say alcohol was involved the first time they had sexual intercourse, with an average of 5 drinks consumed prior to having sex, according to the report.
Overall, the study found that the use of alcohol at first coitus was positively associated with age at first coitus, partner age, pressure to participate in sexual intercourse, and future risky sexual behaviors. In terms of the effect of alcohol on the first experience with intercourse alone, researchers found that alcohol negatively impacted the length of time a woman knew her sexual partner before engaging in coitus, and the extent to which the encounter was planned and desired.
Dangers of alcohol and first-time sex for teens
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