Adolescent sexuality

Biologic perspective on early erotic development

Neurobiologic researchers can understand children's sexuality in less moral and more biologic terms. Genetically programmed levels of neurotransmitters and hormones establish a baseline trajectory of erotic interest and activity across the lifespan. Environmental influences also contribute. Intense early stimulation can affect the brain and create a condition of hyper eroticism, whereas too little stimulation can limit the ability to bond and impair the sexual response. Children who are erotically challenged or challenging are viewed correctly as having a brain imbalance, rather than as victims or as being morally deficient. This should pave the way for more humane, objective, and effective interventions.

Sexual development in patients treated for cryptorchidism

An analysis of sexual development was carried out in adult patients treated in childhood for cryptorchidism. Forty-seven healthy men served as a control group. The cryptorchid patients had been treated between the ages of 10 months to 13 years and their ages ranged from 16 to 30 years at follow-up. The onset of puberty, and sexual development, were within normal limits in all patients, although spermarche occurred somewhat later in the patients than in the controls. In addition, the patients were on average slightly less sexually active than the controls. Neither age at the time of treatment nor the method of treatment correlated with current sexual activity. The patients with larger testes were, however, sexually more active. Both treatment age and the method of treatment, whether hormonal or surgical, should be selected on the basis of fertility prognosis.

Gender Differences in the Sexual Behavior of Latino Adolescents: An Exploratory Study in a Public High School in the San Francisco Bay Area

Purpose:

The purpose of this study was to examine factors associated with sexual behavior among urban, first-generation Latino adolescents.

Methods:

Data were collected with self-administered questionnaires on 176 (98 girls and 78 boys) Latino high school students between the ages of Fifteen and nineteen years, of whom 76 percent were born in Latin America and 34 percent had lived in the United States for two years or less. The outcome variables measured three levels of sexual activity, defined as: sexual abstinence, “making out” (kissing passionately, or kissing “using one's tongue”), and sexual intercourse. The key predictors were gender and acculturation. Other variables included information on socio-demographics, self and body-image, college aspirations, and family structure/relationships. Stratified analysis was conducted for each gender.

Results:

Twenty percent of boys and 27 percent of girls were abstainers. Whereas girls were more likely than boys to “make out” only (47% vs. 26%), boys were more likely to engage in sexual intercourse (54% vs. 26%). For girls, there was a negative association between making out and maternal punishment, feeling close to both parents and paternal love. Sexual intercourse was inversely associated with having educational goals beyond high school and presence of parental love, and positively correlated with age and maternal communication about sex. In boys, the predictors of “making out” were feeling close to both parents and Spanish language spoken with friends, and for sexual intercourse the significant predictors were feeling close to both parents, presence of an older sister, and body-image.

Conclusions:

The results indicate that family structure and relationships, personal characteristics, and acculturation play important but different roles in the sexual development of Latino adolescent girls and boys. Sex education curricula should take these gender and family influences into account.

Androgens and sexuality

A review of the literature reveals that the endocrine determinants of female sexuality are complex and difficult to characterize. In adolescent males, free testosterone directly affects sexual motivation, with social factors exerting little or no effect. In adolescent girls, by contrast, societal and peer pressure play a pivotal role in the appearance of certain sexual behaviors. Throughout a woman's life, hormonal and psychosocial factors are critical influences. It is possible that cyclic patterns of testosterone are less important for female sexual behavior than the "tonic" effect of overall testosterone levels. Although the estrogen dependence of the vaginal epithelium--important for postmenopausal women--has been clearly established, the role of other hormonal factors and treatments, particularly those involving androgens, in human female sexual behavior remains enigmatic. The search for an understanding of these relationships is not merely an interesting academic exercise but is necessary to determine what role, if any, androgens may play in the treatment of sexual dysfunction during the female reproductive years.

Substance use and its relation to sexual activity among inner-city adolescents

A study of inner-city Black and Caucasian males and females in two junior and two senior high schools provided data on sexual knowledge, attitudes and behaviors, and substance use based on over 2500 anonymous, voluntary self-administered questionnaires. Substance use was high among Caucasians, particularly females. Females smoked more cigarettes than males and men drank more alcohol. Marijuana smoking showed only small racial, age, and gender differences. Compared to Blacks, Caucasians used more hard drugs. Using an index scoring types of substances and frequencies of use, sexually active students were higher than virgins in all subgroups, with those who initiated intercourse early appearing highest on the index. A regression model explaining 21% of the variance in substance use showed independent effects of age, race, gender, and sexual activity. The importance of an index for screening early use is discussed, and research on the relationship of low-level youthful experimentation with future dysfunctional use is proposed.

Biosocial foundations for adolescent female sexuality

Despite the widespread assumption that hormones stimulate motivation for sexual behavior in adolescence, no published empirical studies have demonstrated this link. In a cross-sectional study of 78 females in the eighth, ninth, and tenth grades in public schools, we show that hormones have effects on sexual motivation and behavior. Comparison with previous results from a parallel sample of males indicates that for both sexes these effects are primarily androgenic in origin and for the most part exert their effects directly rather than through the social interpretation of age and hormone-induced pubertal development.

Adolescent sexual behavior

Human sexuality is a lifelong process with biologic, psychosocial, and moral consequences. During adolescence, coping with sexual feelings and controlling sexual drive become urgent tasks that are made more difficult by today's society. Recent studies document a dramatic increase in the frequency of sexual activity among teenagers as well as a decrease in the age at which sexual activity begins. The pregnancy rate has increased dramatically in this age-group because of the general lack of willpower and moral strength of young people; lack of adult role models; sexual exploitation of the young, particularly by mass media and industries; and aversion of teenagers to contraception. Births to teenagers have actually decreased slightly, however, because of the accessibility of abortion.

Adolescents with abnormal cervical cytology

Cytology screening is an important diagnostic tool to detect precancerous and cancerous lesions of the uterine cervix. Cervical intraepithelial neoplasia (CIN) represents a continuum of neoplastic alterations, from mild dysplasia to carcinoma in situ. Our high incidence of 32/1,000 adolescent girls with abnormal cervical cytology, suggestive of CIN, supports studies showing that major cervical pathology does exist in this age group. The importance of this problem, previous experiences, reliability of screening, management, and associated risk factors are reviewed. We advocate that the sexually active older adolescent, 18 to 21, have PAP smears at least yearly. It is also our feelings that sexually active adolescent under 18 should have annual PAP smears, even though our studies revealed a paucity of significantly abnormal findings in this age group.