PEDIATRICS Vol. 95 No. 2 February 1995, pp. 298-300
This Article
Right arrow Full Text (PDF)
Right arrow P3Rs: Submit a response
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me when P3Rs are posted
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Right arrow Citation Map
Services
Right arrow E-mail this article to a friend
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in PubMed
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Add to My File Cabinet
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrow reprints & permissions
Citing Articles
Right arrow Citing Articles via HighWire
Right arrow Citing Articles via CrossRef
Right arrow Citing Articles via Google Scholar
Google Scholar
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation

Sexuality, Contraception, and the Media

Committee on Communications

The age at which American adolescents first experience sexual intercourse continues to decline. Approximately half of all American females and two-thirds of all males have experienced coitus by 17 years of age.1,2 For those who begin having intercourse before age 18, 45% of females report having had four or more partners,3 and males report having had an average of five partners.2 Most adolescent females report that their first experience was unplanned.4 More than 85% have first coitus before seeking professional advice about preventing pregnancy or sexually transmitted diseases (STDs). The earlier the first coitus, the longer the interval until such advice is sought.

There are a number of consequences of unprotected coitus including pregnancy, often unwanted, and exposure to STDs that may adversely affect pregnancy outcome, damage the reproductive system, or even threaten life.5,6 An estimated 4% of students in grades nine through 12 have a history of a STD.3 The number of adolescents with acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) has increased 77% since 1989.7 The 10-year latency period between infection with the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) and development of symptoms suggests that many AIDS patients were probably infected as teenagers.5 For females, early intercourse, repeated infections, and multiple partners greatly increase the risk of cervical cancer and infertility.5 Although the use of contraception, especially condoms, can prevent many of these conditions, teenagers do not use contraceptives effectively.3

The 1985 Guttmacher Report found that despite levels of sexual activity comparable to their European counterparts, the teenage pregnancy rate in the United States was two to five times higher than in other developed countries.8




This article has been cited by other articles:


Home page
 PediatricsHome page
J. D. Brown, K. L. L'Engle, C. J. Pardun, G. Guo, K. Kenneavy, and C. Jackson
Sexy Media Matter: Exposure to Sexual Content in Music, Movies, Television, and Magazines Predicts Black and White Adolescents' Sexual Behavior
Pediatrics, April 1, 2006; 117(4): 1018 - 1027.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

Home page
 PediatricsHome page
R. L. Collins, M. N. Elliott, S. H. Berry, D. E. Kanouse, and S. B. Hunter
Entertainment Television as a Healthy Sex Educator: The Impact of Condom-Efficacy Information in an Episode of Friends
Pediatrics, November 1, 2003; 112(5): 1115 - 1121.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

Home page
 Acad. PsychiatryHome page
K. Kaliebe and A. Sondheimer
The Media: Relationships to Psychiatry and Children: A Seminar
Acad Psychiatry, September 1, 2002; 26(3): 205 - 215.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

Home page
 PediatricsHome page
M. Rich and M. Bar-on
Child Health in the Information Age: Media Education of Pediatricians
Pediatrics, January 1, 2001; 107(1): 156 - 162.
[Abstract] [Full Text]

Home page
 Arch. Dis. Child.Home page
M. E Bar-on
Current topic: The effects of television on child health: implications and recommendations
Arch. Dis. Child., October 1, 2000; 83(4): 289 - 292.
[Full Text] [PDF]

Home page
 CLIN PEDIATRHome page
S. J. Genuis and S. K. Genuis
Orgasm Without Organisms: Science or Propaganda?
Clinical Pediatrics, January 1, 1996; 35(1): 10 - 17.
[Abstract] [PDF]