Abstract
This study examined adolescent sexual behaviors patterns, and the consistency between sexual behavior and sexual orientation, in a prospective birth cohort. We used data on 5150 young people from the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children. Sexual orientation was assessed using a 5-point scale of sexual attraction at 15.5 years. Fourteen sexual activities were assessed using the Adolescent Sexual Activities Index at 13.5 and 15.5 years. Latent class analysis suggested four subgroups of adolescent sexual behaviors at 13.5: a “high-intensity sexual behaviors exclusively with other-sex, no same-sex intimacy” group (3.87%); a “moderate-intensity sexual behaviors exclusively with other-sex, no same-sex intimacy” group (16.57%); a “low-intensity sexual behaviors exclusively with other-sex, no same-sex intimacy” group (34.21%); and a “no sexual behavior” group (45.35%). There were five subgroups at 15.5 where four of them (23.42%, 18.37%, 28.12%, and 24.52%, respectively) were interpreted the same as at 13.5 years and a new “high-intensity sexual behaviors, some same-sex intimacy” subgroup (5.57%). Latent transition analysis showed approximately half the adolescents moved toward greater engagement in higher intensity sexual activities with other-sex at 15.5. Boys and girls who were in groups without same-sex intimacy were predominantly attracted to the other-sex, whereas there were moderate consistencies between same-sex intimacy and same-sex attraction for boys and low consistency for girls. Findings suggest that it may be important to include low-intensity sexual behaviors when assigning adolescents to sexual orientation groupings (via sexual behaviors) in order to reduce selection biases and increase statistical power via the increase in sample size.
Highlights
Subgroups of Adolescent Sexual BehaviorSexual orientation refers to the degree to which a person is attracted to same- or opposite-sex members (Bailey et al, 2016)
Based on a careful inspection of the four, and five classes models, we selected the four classes model. This model was chosen over the five classes model because the classes were more interpretable and all classes were qualitatively distinct from one another based on item-response probabilities
There were four subgroups among adolescent sexual behaviors at 13.5 years old: a “lowintensity sexual behaviors, no same-sex intimacy” group who had a high probability of kissing other-sex partners only; a “moderate-intensity sexual behaviors, no same-sex intimacy” group who had a high probability of kissing and touching with other-sex partners only; a “high-intensity sexual behaviors, no same-sex intimacy” group who had a high probability of engaging in all sexual activities exclusively with other-sex partners; and a “no sexual behavior” group who had a high probability of reporting having not engaged in any sexual activities
Summary
Sexual orientation refers to the degree to which a person is attracted to same- or opposite-sex members (Bailey et al, 2016). Understanding adolescents’ sexual behavior patterns could help basic sexual science and applied researchers to identify adolescents who are more likely to be at risk of particular negative health outcomes or engage in risky behaviors. This information could inform the development of interventions targeted toward these groups. Another study using a large national dataset (National Survey of Family Growth) reported that 64.7% homosexual or bisexual men had intercourse with opposite-sex partner (Chandra, Mosher, & Copen, 2011) Once again, these prior studies suffered from potential selection bias, limited generalizability and reductions in statistical power due to the exclusion of participants who engaged in other sexual activities except sexual intercourse. We hypothesized that there would be moderate consistency between sexual behavior and sexual attraction in our sample
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