Timing of first sexual intercourse: the role of social control, social learning, and problem behavior.

Abstract

Research has suggested the roles of several factors and processes which may affect the timing of first intercourse among adolescents. The roles of pubertal timing, family socialization, psychosocial adjustment, bonds to conventional institutions, problem behavior, and socioeconomic status in the timing of first intercourse were assessed in a sample of 123 male and 166 female White rural adolescents in one rural school district in the eastern US. The sample comprised all students in grades 7-9 in the district's two junior high schools. Respondents' median household income was $14,000, with 12% of families under the poverty level. Most of the written survey questionnaire data is from a 1985 sampling. The majority of students in this longitudinal study had experienced sexual intercourse by age 17. Family socialization and problem behavior were important determinant factors of the timing of first intercourse for both sexes. For boys, the earlier timing of puberty was associated with earlier timing of first intercourse, while social control processes were important for girls. Social class and poor psychosocial adjustment were found to be important for neither gender. Multiple processes influence the timing of first intercourse.