Twelfth Edition

1. Twelfth Edition Adolescence by John W. Santrock University of Texas at Dallas Power point slides prepared by Leonard R. Mendola, Ph.D. Touro College

2. SexualityChapter 6 Outline • Exploring Adolescent Sexuality • A Normal Aspect of Adolescent Development • The Sexual Culture • Developing a Sexual Identity • Obtaining Research Information about Adolescent Sexuality • Sexual Attitudes and Behavior • Heterosexual Attitudes and Behavior • Sexual Minority Attitudes and Behavior • Self-Stimulation • Contraceptive Use

3. SexualityChapter 6 Outline (Continued from previous slide) • Adolescent Sexual Problems • Adolescent Pregnancy • Sexually Transmitted Infections • Forcible Sexual Behavior and Sexual Harassment • Sexual Literacy and Sex Education • Sexual Literacy • Sources of Sex Information • Sex Education in Schools

4. Exploring Adolescent Sexuality During adolescence and emerging adulthood, the lives of adolescents are wrapped in sexuality. Adolescence and emerging adulthood are time frames when individuals engage in sexual exploration and incorporate sexuality into their identity.

5. Exploring Adolescent Sexuality • A Normal Aspect of Adolescent Development • Sexuality is a normal part of adolescence (Diamond, 2006; Nichols & Good, 2004). • The Sexual Culture • A special concern is the way sex is portrayed in the media • Developing a Sexual Identity • Emerging sexual feelings and forming a sense of sexual identity is multifaceted (Brown & Brown, 2006; Carroll, 2007; Graber & Brooks-Gunn, 2002). • Obtaining Information about Adolescent Sexuality • Assessing sexual attitudes and behavior is not always a straightforward affair.

6. Sexual Attitudes and Behavior • Heterosexual Attitudes and Behavior • Sequence and Change • Eight in 10 girls and 7 in 10 boys are virgins at age 15. • The probability that adolescents will have sexual intercourse increases steadily with age, but 1 in 5 individuals have not yet had sexual intercourse by age 19. • Initial sexual intercourse occurs in the mid- to late-adolescent years for a majority of teenagers, about eight years before they marry; more than one-half of 17-year-olds have had sexual intercourse.

7. Sexual Attitudes and Behavior (Continued from previous slide) • Heterosexual Attitudes and Behavior • Oral Sex • Recent research indicates that oral sex is now a common occurrence in U.S. adolescents (Bersamin & others, 2006). • One reason for the increase in oral sex during adolescence is the belief that oral sex is not really sex. • Early Maturation • linked with early initiation of sexual activity

8. Sexual Attitudes and Behavior (Continued from previous slide) • Heterosexual Attitudes and Behavior • Cross-Cultural Comparisons • The timing of teenage sexual initiation varies widely by culture and gender in most instances linked to the culture’s values and customs. • Sexual Scripts • A stereotyped pattern of role prescriptions for how individuals should sexually behave. • Females and males have been socialized to follow different sexual scripts.

9. Sexual Attitudes and Behavior (Continued from previous slide) • Heterosexual Attitudes and Behavior • Risk Factors, Youth Assets, and Sexual Problems • Most adolescents become sexually active at some point during adolescence, but many adolescents are at risk for sexual problems and other problems when they have sexual intercourse before 16 years of age. • Risk factors for sexual problems in adolescence include contextual factors such as socioeconomic status (SES), as well as family/parenting and peer factors (Aronowitz, Rennells, & Todd, 2006; Huebner & Howell, 2003; Swenson & Prelow, 2005).

10. Sexual Attitudes and Behavior (Continued from previous slide) • Heterosexual Attitudes and Behavior • Risk Factors, Youth Assets, and Sexual Problems • Another important factor in sexual risk taking is self-regulation—the ability to control one’s emotions and behavior (Lombardo, 2005). • Further Exploration of Heterosexual Attitudes and Behavior in Emerging Adults • Males have more casual sexual partners and females report being more selective about their choice of a sexual partner.

11. Sexual Attitudes and Behavior (Continued from previous slide) • Heterosexual Attitudes and Behavior • Further Exploration of Heterosexual Attitudes and Behavior in Emerging Adults • Males have more casual sexual partners and females report being more selective about their choice of a sexual partner. • Approximately 60 percent of emerging adults have had sexual intercourse with only 1 individual in the past year, but compared to young adults in their late 20s and 30s, emerging adults are more likely to have had sexual intercourse with 2 or more individuals.

12. Sexual Attitudes and Behavior (Continued from previous slide) • Heterosexual Attitudes and Behavior • Further Exploration of Heterosexual Attitudes and Behavior in Emerging Adults • Although emerging adults have sexual intercourse with more individuals than young adults, they have sex less frequently. Approximately 25 percent of emerging adults report having sexual intercourse only a couple of times a year or not at all (Michael & others, 1994). • Casual sex is a more common in emerging adulthood than in young adulthood. One study indicated that 30 percent of emerging adults said they had “hooked up” with someone and had sexual intercourse during college (Paul, McManus, & Hayes, 2000).

13. Sexual Attitudes and Behavior (Continued from previous slide) • Sexual Minority Attitudes and Behavior • The majority of sexual minority (same-sex) individuals experience their first same-sex attraction, sexual behavior, and self-labeling as a gay male or lesbian during adolescence (Savin-Williams, 2006). • The term bisexual refers to someone who is attracted to people of both sexes.

14. Sexual Attitudes and Behavior (Continued from previous slide) • Factors Associated with Sexual Minority Behavior • Although research suggests there may be a genetic contribution to sexual attraction in some individuals, we are far from understanding the mechanisms involved (Diamond, 2004). • Most experts believe that no one factor alone causes same-sex attraction and that the relative weight of each factor may vary from one individual to the next.

15. Sexual Attitudes and Behavior (Continued from previous slide) • Factors Associated with Sexual Minority Behavior • There also is no evidence to support the once popular theories that being a gay male is caused by a dominant mother or a weak father, or that being a lesbian is caused by girls’ choosing male role models.

16. Sexual Attitudes and Behavior (Continued from previous slide) • Developmental Pathways • Sexual minority youth have diverse patterns of initial attraction, often have bisexual attractions, and may have physical or emotional attraction to same-sex individuals but do not always fall in love with them (Diamond, 2003; Savin-Williams, 2006).

17. Sexual Attitudes and Behavior (Continued from previous slide) • Gay Male or Lesbian Identity and Disclosure • Establishing a gay male or lesbian identity is often referred to as the coming-out process. (Rosario & others, 2006). • Parents are seldom the first person an adolescent tells about his or her same-sex attractions. • Mothers are usually told before fathers, possibly because adolescents have more distant relationships with fathers.

18. Sexual Attitudes and Behavior (Continued from previous slide) • Gay Male or Lesbian Identity and Disclosure • Mothers are more likely than fathers to know about their adolescent’s (son’s or daughter’s) same-sex attractions. • Approximately 50 to 60 percent of lesbian, gay, and bisexual adolescents have disclosed to at least one sibling, but siblings are still seldom the first person to whom a sexual minority youth discloses. • The first person to whom adolescents may disclose their sexual minority identity is likely to be a friend.

19. Sexual Attitudes and Behavior (Continued from previous slide) • Peer Relations • Regardless of their age, sexual minority youth showed excessive worry about losing friends and difficulties in romantic relationships. • Discrimination and Bias • Having irrational negative feelings against individuals who have same-sex attractions is called homophobia • In its more extreme forms, homophobia can lead individuals to ridicule, physically assault, or even murder people they believe to have same-sex attractions

20. Sexual Attitudes and Behavior (Continued from previous slide) • Discrimination and Bias • Homophobia is associated with avoidance of same-sex individuals, faulty beliefs about sexual minority lifestyles (such as believing the falsehood that most child molesters have same-sex attractions), and subtle or overt discrimination in housing, employment, and other areas of life (Meyer, 2003). • One common form of self-devaluation is called passing, the process of hiding one’s real social identity

21. Sexual Attitudes and Behavior (Continued from previous slide) • Self-Stimulation • Most boys have an ejaculation for the first time at about 12 to 13 years of age. • Masturbation, genital contact with a same-sex or other-sex partner, or a wet dream during sleep are common circumstances for ejaculation. • Masturbation is the most frequent sexual outlet for many adolescents (Gates & Sonnenstein, 2000). • Today, as few as 15 percent of adolescents attach any stigma to masturbation (Hyde & DeLamater, 2005).

22. Sexual Attitudes and Behavior (Continued from previous slide) • Contraceptive Use • Youth encounter two kinds of risks: unintended pregnancy and sexually transmitted infections. • Both risks can be reduced significantly if contraception is used. • Adolescents are increasing their use of contraceptives but large numbers still do not use them. • The issue of contraception is more difficult for adolescents than adults because of differing patterns of sexual activity (Feldman, 1999).

23. Sexual Attitudes and Behavior (Continued from previous slide) • Contraceptive Use • What factors are related to unsuccessful contraceptive use? • Being from a low-SES family is one of the best predictors of adolescents’ failure to use contraceptives (Nadeem, Romo, & Sigman, 2006). • Younger adolescents are less likely to use contraceptives than older adolescents (Hofferth, 1990). • Not being involved in a steady, committed dating relationship is also associated with a lack of contraceptive use (Chilman, 1979).

24. Sexual Attitudes and Behavior (Continued from previous slide) • Contraceptive Use • What factors are related to unsuccessful contraceptive use? • Condom use is inhibited by concerns about embarrassment and reduced sexual pleasure. • Adolescents with poor coping skills, lack of a future orientation, high anxiety, poor social adjustment, and a negative attitude toward contraceptives are not as likely to use them.

25. Adolescent Sexual Problems Sexual problems in adolescence include: • Adolescent pregnancy • Sexually transmitted infections • Forcible sexual behavior • Sexual harassment

26. Adolescent Sexual Problems (Continued from previous slide) • Adolescent Pregnancy • Pregnant adolescents were once virtually invisible and unmentionable, shuttled off to homes for unwed mothers where relinquishment of the baby for adoption was their only option, or subjected to unsafe and illegal abortions. But yesterday’s secret has become today’s dilemma.

27. Adolescent Sexual Problems (Continued from previous slide) • Incidence of Adolescent Pregnancy • Adolescent girls who become pregnant are from different ethnic groups and from different places, but their circumstances have the same stressfulness. • More than 200,000 females in the United States have a child before their eighteenth birthday.

28. Adolescent Sexual Problems (Continued from previous slide) • Cross-Cultural Comparisons • The United States continued to have one of the highest rates of adolescent pregnancy and childbearing in the developed world, despite a considerable decline in the 1990s (Alan Guttmacher Institute, 2003b; Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2003). • U.S. adolescent pregnancy rates are similar to those of Russia and several Eastern European countries, such as Bulgaria; nearly twice those of Canada and Great Britain; and at least four times the rates in France, Sweden, Germany, and Japan.

29. Adolescent Sexual Problems (Continued from previous slide) • Why are U.S. adolescent pregnancy rates so high? • Childbearing regarded as adult activity in Europe and Canada. • Unclear messages about sexuality • Access to family planning services

30. Adolescent Sexual Problems (Continued from previous slide) • Decreasing U.S. Adolescent Pregnancy Rates • In 2004, births to adolescent girls fell to a record low (Child Trends, 2006). • The greatest drop in the U.S. adolescent pregnancy rate in recent years has been for 15- to 17-year-old African American girls. • Fear of STDs • School/community health classes • Greater hope for future

31. Adolescent Sexual Problems (Continued from previous slide) • Abortion • Impassioned debate characterizes abortion in the United States today, and this debate is likely to continue in the foreseeable future (Brown, 2006; Law, 2006; Joyce, Kaestner, & Colman, 2006). • Abortion is easier to obtain in some countries, most notably the Scandinavian countries, than in the United States, where abortion and adolescent sexual activity are more stigmatized. • In the United States, 19 percent of abortions are performed on 15- to 19-year-old girls while less than 1 percent are carried out with those less than 15 years of age (Alan Guttmacher Institute, 2003b).

32. Adolescent Sexual Problems (Continued from previous slide) • Abortion • Legislation mandating parental consent for an adolescent girl’s abortion has been justified by several assumptions: • High risk of harm from abortion • Adolescents’ inability to make an adequately informed decision • Benefits of parental involvement • Regardless of research outcomes, pro-life and pro-choice advocates are convinced of the rightness of their positions (Hyde & DeLamater, 2006). Their conflict has a foundation in religious beliefs, political convictions, and morality. This conflict has no easy solutions.

33. Adolescent Sexual Problems (Continued from previous slide) • Consequences of Adolescent Pregnancy • Creates health risks for both baby and the mother • Infants are more likely to have low birth weights • A prominent factor in infant mortality—as well as neurological problems and childhood illness • Adolescent mothers often drop out of school.

34. Adolescent Sexual Problems (Continued from previous slide) • Cognitive Factors in Adolescent Pregnancy • They may see themselves as omnipotent and indestructible and believe that bad things cannot or will not happen to them (adolescent egocentrism). • Informing adolescents about contraceptives is not enough—what seems to predict whether or not they will use contraceptives is their acceptance of themselves and their sexuality. • Prevention is based on the belief that adolescents have the cognitive ability to approach problem solving in a planned, organized, and analytical manner.

35. Adolescent Sexual Problems (Continued from previous slide) • Cognitive Factors in Adolescent Pregnancy • Prevention is based on the belief that adolescents have the cognitive ability to approach problem solving in a planned, organized, and analytical manner. • While many adolescents 16 years of age and older have these capacities, it does not mean they use them, especially in emotionally charged situations, such as when they are sexually aroused or are being pressured by a partner.

36. Adolescent Sexual Problems (Continued from previous slide) • Cognitive Factors in Adolescent Pregnancy • Young Adolescents (10 to 15 years of age) seem to experience sex in a depersonalized way that is filled with anxiety and denial. • Middle adolescents (15 to 17 years of age) often romanticize sexuality. • Late adolescents (18 to 19 years of age) are to some degree realistic and future oriented about sexual experiences, just as they are about careers and marriage.

37. Adolescent Sexual Problems (Continued from previous slide) • Adolescents as Parents • Children of adolescent parents face problems even before they are born. • Adolescent mothers are less competent at child rearing. • Adolescent mothers have less realistic expectations for their infants’ development than do older mothers (Osofsky, 1990). • Children born to adolescent mothers do not perform as well on intelligence tests and have more behavioral problems than children born to mothers in their twenties (Silver, 1988).

38. Adolescent Sexual Problems (Continued from previous slide) • Adolescents as Parents • Although some adolescent fathers are involved with their children, the majority are not. • Adolescent fathers have lower incomes, less education, and more children than do men who delay having children until their twenties. • Many young fathers have little idea of what a father is supposed to do.

39. Adolescent Sexual Problems (Continued from previous slide) • Reducing Adolescent Pregnancy • Extensive help in obtaining competent child care and in planning for the future (Klaw & Saunders, 1994). • Sex education and family planning • Access to contraceptive methods • The life options approach • Broad community involvement and support (Conger,1988)

40. Adolescent Sexual Problems (Continued from previous slide) • Reducing Adolescent Pregnancy • Teen Outreach Program (TOP) (Dryfoos & Barkin, 2006). • Girls, Inc. (Roth & others, 1998). • Growing Together • Will Power/Won’t Power • Taking Care of Business • Health Bridge • Abstinence

41. Adolescent Sexual Problems (Continued from previous slide) • Sexually Transmitted Infections (STI) • Contracted primarily through sexual contact • Not limited to vaginal intercourse but includes oral-genital and anal-genital contact • STIs are an increasing health problem • Three STIs caused by viruses: • AIDS (acquired immune deficiency syndrome), genital herpes, and genital warts • Three STIs caused by bacterial infections: • gonorrhea, syphilis, and chlamydia.

42. Sexually Transmitted Infections Understanding AIDS: What’s Risky, What’s Not Fig. 6.6

43. Adolescent Sexual Problems (Continued from previous slide) • Forcible Sexual Behavior and Sexual Harassment • Rape • Date, or Acquaintance Rape • Sexual Harassment • Sexual comments, jokes, gestures, and looks • Sexist remarks and covert physical contact • Sexual rumors • Blatant propositions and sexual assaults • Quid Pro Quo • Hostile Environment

44. Sexual Literacy and Sex Education • Sexual Literacy • Sexual information is abundant, but much of it is misinformation. • Most adolescents do not know at what stage of the menstrual cycle females are most likely to get pregnant (Loewen & Leigh, 1986; Zelnik & Kantner, 1977). • Sources of Sex Information • Adolescents can get information about sex from many sources: parents, siblings, schools, peers, magazines, television, and the Internet.

45. Sexual Literacy and Sex Education • Sources of Sex Information • A special concern is the accuracy of sexual information • Many parents feel uncomfortable talking about sex • Many adolescents feel uncomfortable talking about sex • Adolescents are far more likely to have conversations about sex with their mothers than with their fathers (Kirkman, Rosenthal, & Feldman, 2002). • Contraceptive use by female adolescents also increases when adolescents report that they can communicate about sex with their parents (Fisher, 1987).

46. Sexual Literacy and Sex Education • Sex Education in Schools • 93 percent of Americans support the teaching of sex education in high schools, and 84 percent support its teaching in middle/junior high schools (SIECUS, 1999). • Sex education in U.S. schools today is increasingly focused on abstinence and is less likely to present students with comprehensive teaching that includes information about birth control, abortion, and sexual orientation (Alan Guttmacher Institute, 2003a; Santelli & others, 2006).

47. Resources for Improving the Lives of Adolescents • AIDS Hotline • National AIDS Information Clearinghouse 800–342–AIDS 800–344–SIDA (Spanish) 800–AIDS–TTY (Deaf) • The people answering the hotline will respond to any questions children, youth, or adults have about HIV infection or AIDS. Pamphlets and other materials on AIDS are available.

48. Resources for Improving the Lives of Adolescents • Alan Guttmacher Institute www.guttmacher.org • The Alan Guttmacher Institute is a resource for information about adolescent sexuality. The Institute publishes a well-respected journal, Perspectives on Sexual and Reproductive Health (renamed in 2003, formerly Family Planning Perspectives), which includes articles on many dimensions of sexuality, such as adolescent pregnancy, statistics on sexual behavior and attitudes, and sexually transmitted infections.

49. Resources for Improving the Lives of Adolescents • The New Gay Teenager (2006) by Richard Savin-WilliamsCambridge, MA: Harvard University Press. Leading researcher on adolescent gay males and lesbians, Savin-Williams examines many aspects of their development and relationships. • National Sexually Transmitted Diseases Hotline800–227–8922 This hotline provides information about a wide variety of sexually transmitted infections.

50. Resources for Improving the Lives of Adolescents • Sex Information and Education Council of the United States (SIECUS) www.siecus.org • This organization serves as an information clearinghouse about sex education. The group’s objective is to promote the concept of human sexuality as an integration of physical, intellectual, emotional, and social dimensions.