Citation

Bersamin MM, Fisher DA, Walker S, Hill DL, Grube JW. J. Adolesc. Health 2007; 41(2): 182-188.

Affiliation

Prevention Research Center, Berkeley, California, USA. mbersamin@prev.org

Copyright

(Copyright © 2007, Elsevier Publishing)

DOI

10.1016/j.jadohealth.2007.03.011

PMID

17659223

PMCID

PMC1941649

Abstract

PURPOSE: The current study examined adolescent conceptualizations of virginity and abstinence and whether differences in adolescent definitions of these terms differed by age, gender, ethnicity, and sexual experience. METHODS: A series of logistic regressions were conducted to examine whether gender, age, ethnicity, and sexual experience predicted whether adolescents believed that an individual was still a virgin or abstinent after engaging in genital touching, oral sex, vaginal intercourse, or anal sex. RESULTS: Findings indicated that loss of virginity was linked primarily with vaginal and anal intercourse, while a greater proportion of adolescents attributed a loss of abstinence to other behaviors such as genital touching and oral sex as well. Sexual experience was the strongest predictor of how adolescents defined virginity and abstinence. CONCLUSIONS: Significant differences exist in youths' definitions of abstinence and virginity. This suggests that additional attention is needed to ensure a common understanding of these terms to achieve successful sexual education and prevention programs.

Language: en