Four out of five boys between the ages of 15 and 19 are using a condom the first time they have sex, according to the results of a new federal survey of teenagers’ sex lives.
According to the National Center for Health Statistics’ (NCHS) National Survey of Family Growth, which features data collected between 2006 and 2010, the number of teen boys using condoms during their first sexual encounter increased 9%, from 71%, in 2002, Sharon Jayson of USA Today reported Wednesday.
The survey also found that 42% of boys and 43% of girls reported that they had had vaginal sexual intercourse, a decrease from 60% and 51% from 1988, she said. Results regarding oral sex habits are scheduled to be released at a later date.
Of the 2,284 girls surveyed, 78% said that they used a contraceptive the first time they had sex, and 86% reported using one during their most recent sexual encounter. Similarly, of the 2,378 boys surveyed, 85% said that they used a contraceptive the first time they had sex, and 93% during the last time that they had intercourse, USA Today also reported.
“Even though more teens used a condom the first time they had sex, just 49% of girls and 66.5% of boys said they used one every time they had sex in the past four weeks,” Jayson said. “Among the 57% of girls and 58% of boys who say they have never had sex, the most frequent reason given is ‘against religion or morals,’ cited by 41% of young women and 31% of young men.”
Furthermore, Associated Press (AP) Medical Writer Carla K. Johnson notes that the study discovered that teenagers were less likely to be sexually active if they came from a two-parent home, if their mothers had not become pregnant when they were teenagers themselves, and if their moms were college graduates.
“Most teens — 70 percent of girls and 56 percent of boys — had their first sex with someone with whom they were ‘going steady,'” Johnson said. “A minority — 16 percent of girls and 28 percent of boys — had their first sex with someone they just met or with whom they were ‘just friends.'”
“It comes as a general surprise to people that teenagers in general and teen boys in particular can behave responsibly when it comes to making decisions about sex,” Bill Albert, spokesman for the National Campaign to Prevent Teen and Unplanned Pregnancy, told the AP. “I think it is surprising.”
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More Teenage Boys Using Condoms During First Sexual Encounter
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