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America's Children: Key National Indicators of Well-Being, 2007

Sexual Activity

Early sexual activity is associated with emotional ⁹⁹ and physical health risks. Youth who choose abstinence avoid risks associated with sexual activity, such as contracting sexually transmitted infections (STIs) and becoming pregnant. STIs, including HIV, can infect a person for a lifetime and have consequences including disability and early death; meanwhile, delaying sexual initiation is associated with a decrease in the number of lifetime sexual partners,¹⁰⁰ and decreasing the number of lifetime partners is associated with a decrease in the rate of STI.¹⁰¹ Additionally, teen pregnancy is associated with a number of negative risk factors, not only for the mother but also for her child (see FAMSOC6).

Indicator BEH4: Percentage of high school students who reported ever having had sexual intercourse by gender and selected grades, selected years 1991–2005

NOTE: Students were asked, "Have you ever had sexual intercourse?" Data are collected biennially.

SOURCE: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion, Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance System.

In 2005, 47 percent of high school students reported ever having had sexual intercourse. This was statistically the same rate as in 2003.
The proportion of students who reported ever having had sexual intercourse declined significantly from 1991 (54 percent) to 2001 (46 percent) and has remained stable from 2001 to 2005.
The percentage of students who reported ever having had sexual intercourse differs by grade. In 2005, 34 percent of 9th-grade students reported having ever had sexual intercourse, compared with 63 percent of 12th-grade students.
Trends differed by race and ethnicity. The rate among White, non-Hispanic students declined from 50 percent in 1991 to 42 percent in 2003 (the 2005 rate of 43 percent is not statistically different from the 2003 rate). The proportion of students who reported ever having had sexual intercourse has declined among Black, non-Hispanic students, from 82 percent in 1991 to 68 percent in 2005. There was no statistically significant change among Hispanic students between 1991 and 2005.
Overall, rates of sexual intercourse did not differ by sex, though they did differ by sex within certain racial and ethnic groups. In 2005, 75 percent of Black, non-Hispanic male students reported ever having had sexual intercourse, compared with 61 percent of Black, non-Hispanic female students; 58 percent of Hispanic male students reported ever having had sexual intercourse, compared with 44 percent of Hispanic female students.
In 2005, 18 percent of students who had sexual intercourse in the past three months had used birth control pills before their last sexual intercourse and 63 percent used a condom during their last sexual intercourse. Of note, condom use increased since 1991 (from 46 percent) among high school students, while there was no statistically significant change in the use of birth control pills.

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⁹⁹ Hallfors, D., Waller, M., Bauer, D., Ford C., Halpern C. (2005). Which comes first in adolescence-sex and drugs or depression? American Journal of Preventive Medicine, 29(3), 163–170.

¹⁰⁰ Chandra, A., Martinez, G.M., Mosher, W.D., Abma, J.C., and Jones, J. (2005). Fertility, family planning, and reproductive health of U.S. women: Data from the 2002 National Survey of Family Growth. Vital and Health Statistics, 23(25). Hyattsville, MD: National Center for Health Statistics.

¹⁰¹ Institute of Medicine. (1997). The Hidden Epidemic-Confronting Sexually Transmitted Disease (edited by Thomas R. Eng and William T. Butler). Washington, DC: National Academy Press. Fleming, D., et al., (October, 1997). Herpes Simplex Virus Type 2 in the United States, 1976–1994. New England Journal of Medicine, 337(16), 1105–1111.