Does early sexual debut reduce teenagers' participation in tertiary education? Evidence from the SHARE longitudinal study

Alison Parkes,Daniel Wight,Marion Henderson,Patrick West

doi:10.1016/j.adolescence.2009.10.006

Alison Parkes, Daniel Wight + Show 2 more

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https://doi.org/10.1016/j.adolescence.2009.10.006

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Abstract

Negative effects of early sexual debut on academic outcomes can extend beyond secondary school, although concurrent changes in other psychosocial risk factors have not been investigated. Data from three waves of a longitudinal survey of Scottish teenagers were used to examine associations between early sexual debut (first heterosexual intercourse) and both expectations for (N=5,061) and participation in (N=2,130) tertiary education at college or university. Early debut was associated with reduced tertiary education, after adjusting for academic performance and wave 1 confounders relating to social background, attitudes and behaviours. Pregnancy/partner pregnancy did not explain all of this finding, as many sexually experienced teenagers opted out of tertiary education after leaving school early for other reasons. Changes in other psychosocial risk factors between waves 1 and 2 mediated much of the association found. Early sexual experience may predict disengagement from tertiary education, although further research is needed to explore causal pathways.

Highlights

Low academic achievement and aspirations have been widely identified as risk factors for early sexual debut in longitudinal studies (Zimmer-Gembeck & Helfand, 2008)
Sexual debut in the late teens reflects both normative timing and fewer concurrent psychosocial risk factors, and so we focused on debut either by mean ages 14 or between mean ages 14 and 16 years, similar to divisions used in recent US research
Adding the changes in transition expectations to Model 6 did not result in further adjustment of the effect of sexual debut on participation. This UK study found that sexual debut by age 16 was associated with reduced expectations for and participation in tertiary education, regardless of the level of academic achievement at age 16

Summary

Introduction

Low academic achievement and aspirations have been widely identified as risk factors for early sexual debut in longitudinal studies (Zimmer-Gembeck & Helfand, 2008). There has been less research on associations between teenage sexual debut and subsequent academic underachievement. Such associations may not involve causal effects: sexual debut and a decline in academic aspirations and performance during adolescence may lie on the same developmental trajectory, with shared antecedent risk factors. Other theoretical models suggest direct effects of sexual debut. Sexual debut may lead to emotional problems, such as depression and low self-esteem (Meier, 2007), which could impede school work (Grimm, 2007)

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