{"title":"The Relationship Between Sexual Intercourse Before the age of 13 and Alcohol, Tobacco, and Other Drug use among High School Students.","authors":"Michael Dunn, John Yannessa","doi":"10.1177/00472379221111548","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Research has indicated that early sexual intercourse in high school is associated with poor health outcomes such as unintentional pregnancy and sexually transmitted infections (STIs). What is lacking in the research is an understanding of the relationship between even earlier sexual initiation (i.e., before the age of 13) and alcohol, tobacco, and other drug (ATOD) use behaviors. As such, the purpose of this study was to assess whether sexual intercourse younger than 13 years of age was predictive of ATOD use among students currently in high school. Data was derived from the 2015 Youth Risk Behavior Survey (n = 15,624). This national study is conducted every odd year, and is a representative sample of high school students in the United States. Logistic regression was used to determine the relationship between sexual initiation younger than 13 years of age and current ATOD use among high school students. The results of this study found that early sexual initiation was predictive of current high school ATOD use with students who had initiated early sexual intercourse having significantly higher prevalence rates among all variables measured. The results of this study indicates health education regarding ATOD use, as well as sexual health education should be introduced to US student at an earlier age. These results indicate that continued education is needed in the pre-teen years to prevent early health risk behaviors in our youth.</p>","PeriodicalId":46281,"journal":{"name":"JOURNAL OF DRUG EDUCATION","volume":" ","pages":"3-9"},"PeriodicalIF":0.8000,"publicationDate":"2022-03-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"JOURNAL OF DRUG EDUCATION","FirstCategoryId":"1085","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.1177/00472379221111548","RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":null,"ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"2022/6/29 0:00:00","PubModel":"Epub","JCR":"Q4","JCRName":"Medicine","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
Research has indicated that early sexual intercourse in high school is associated with poor health outcomes such as unintentional pregnancy and sexually transmitted infections (STIs). What is lacking in the research is an understanding of the relationship between even earlier sexual initiation (i.e., before the age of 13) and alcohol, tobacco, and other drug (ATOD) use behaviors. As such, the purpose of this study was to assess whether sexual intercourse younger than 13 years of age was predictive of ATOD use among students currently in high school. Data was derived from the 2015 Youth Risk Behavior Survey (n = 15,624). This national study is conducted every odd year, and is a representative sample of high school students in the United States. Logistic regression was used to determine the relationship between sexual initiation younger than 13 years of age and current ATOD use among high school students. The results of this study found that early sexual initiation was predictive of current high school ATOD use with students who had initiated early sexual intercourse having significantly higher prevalence rates among all variables measured. The results of this study indicates health education regarding ATOD use, as well as sexual health education should be introduced to US student at an earlier age. These results indicate that continued education is needed in the pre-teen years to prevent early health risk behaviors in our youth.
期刊介绍:
Authoritative, peer-refereed publication affording a wide-ranging coverage of important trends and developments in the drug field. Whatever your area of special interest, the Journal of Drug Education brings timely, helpful information, insights and methodologies that can be adapted to various situations. Look to this Quarterly for critical analyses, innovative approaches, scholarly standards, and clear, concise reports on theoretical, research and programmatic issues.