Web Sex Log

Having sex at early age has long been linked to a laundry list of health problems from an increased risk of sexual disease to an increased risk of cancer.

But now, Columbia University and New York state researchers say waiting too long to have sex may carry its own risks.

Losing Virginity Later Linked to Sexual Problems

Those who have sex later, particularly men, seem to experience more sexual dysfunction

While past research has linked early sexual activity to health problems, a new study suggests that waiting too long to start having sex carries risks of its own.

Those who lose their virginity at a later age — around 21 to 23 years of age — tend to be more likely to experience sexual dysfunction problems later, say researchers at Columbia University and the New York State Psychiatric Institute’s HIV Center for Clinical and Behavioral Studies.

The study will appear in the January 2008 issue of the American Journal of Public Health.

Men who lose their virginity in their 20s, in particular, seemed to be more likely to experience sexual problems that include difficulty becoming sexually aroused and reaching orgasm.

The increase in sexual problems was also seen in those who had a comparably earlier sexual debut. And the researchers were quick to point out that there isn’t enough evidence to say for sure whether waiting to have sex necessarily leads to sexual dysfunction down the road.

“Our results do not allow for causal interpretations,” the study authors write.

Rather, they note in the study, there may be factors common to both the delay of sexual activity and the onset of sexual dysfunction — for example, they write, “[M]en with sexual problems may avoid sexual interactions and consequently start later.”

The researchers, who looked at data from the 1996 National Sexual Health Survey, conducted by the Center for AIDS Prevention Studies (CAPS) at the University of California, San Francisco, also found that men and women who begin having sex in their early teens had their share of problems. They were more likely to have risky sexual partners, to contract a sexually transmitted infection (STI) and to have sex while under the influence of drugs or alcohol.

While sexuality experts not affiliated with the study agree that it is too early to draw a direct causal link about those who have sex later in life, they say the research offers some interesting new avenues for learning more about certain sexual problems that may be devastating to long-term relationships.

“Clinically, we see many individuals who marry late and who have had little or no sexual experience have great difficulty with developing a rich and satisfying sexual experience within their relationship,” said Eli Coleman, academic chair in sexual health at the University of Minnesota Medical School Program in Human Sexuality.

“Sexual dysfunction is common. Difficulty in consummating the marriage is also a frequent problem,” he added.

Sexual Hang-Ups May Have Physiological Effects

Even though the research stops short of indicating a causal relationship between the age at which one loses his or her virginity and sexual problems they may experience later, Coleman said a number of possible factors could contribute to both of these things.

“From a clinical standpoint, there are often dynamics other than the desire to be abstinent until marriage, such as fear of intimacy, body image problems, alcohol and drug abuse, and sexual dysfunction,” he said. He adds that these factors “might influence the delay of sexual debut as a means of avoiding sexual issues.”

Conditioning that results in shame over sexual expression may also be a factor, said Gina Ogden, a Boston-based sexuality expert and author of “The Heart and Soul of Sex.”

“In my sex therapy office I see countless women and men who have received messages about sex that shame them about their sexual feelings and also terrify them about their sexual behavior.”

These messages, she said, can differ between men and women.

For women, she said, the message that “good girls” should not engage in or enjoy sex may cause women to shut down sexually, leading to dysfunction.

“One of the many dysfunctions that arises is that women never develop the ability to ask for what they want, which leaves them open for life-long disappointment, desire disorders, orgasmic dysfunction, and worse — they’re ripe for abuse and violence,” she said.

For men, the opposite message — that “real men score” — may lead to negative mindsets both among those who lose their virginity early and those who become sexually active only later — mindsets that impact their ability to perform sexually.

Because of the intimate link between the psyche and sexual performance, some sexuality experts say the results of these conditions most likely bring about sexual dysfunction through their psychological impacts.

“There are mostly, if not exclusively, psychological factors at play here, based on poor sexual skills that lead to a poor sexual debut, with lasting negative effects,” said Patti Britton, president of the American Association of Sexuality Educators, Counselors and Therapists and Los Angeles-based author of books including “The Art of Sex Coaching.”

Coleman, however, said that biological factors may also be involved.

“There are probably both biological and psychological factors at play — which cannot be elucidated from this study — but suggests that further research needs to be conducted to explore those factors,” he said.

The Role of Abstinence-Only Education

The researchers say this preliminary evidence may point up detrimental effects of abstinence-only education.

The authors write that the study “lends credence to research showing that abstinence-only education may actually increase health risks,” adding that other approaches may better equip young people to avoid both short- and long-term sexual health consequences.

Many sexuality experts agree.

“In my view as a sexuality therapist since the 1970s, the abstinence-only approach is a public health hazard,” Ogden said. “Sexual relationship is complex, and the moment of marriage is not a magic marker.

“Instead of making young people pledge ‘no’ until marriage, we need to be encouraging them to understand their own sexual responses and orientations, learn how to engage in sexual practices that are safe, and acquire intimacy skills that will lead them into caring relationships.”

Said Coleman, “While abstinence only programs seem to be helpful in delaying onset of sexual activity, there have been suggestions that this approach could cause more problems when sexual debut takes place due to insufficient preparation and knowledge of responsible sexual behavior.

“This study is interesting because it suggests that sexual experimentation is a normal developmental process, and when this process is inhibited or not guided, there can be poor sexual health outcomes.”

And we do have some other reasons to have sex!

Early Teen Sex May Not Be a Path to Delinquency

A new study by University of Virginia clinical psychologists has found that teens who have sex at an early age may be less inclined to exhibit delinquent behavior in early adulthood than their peers who waited until they were older to have sex. The study also suggests that early sex may play a role in helping these teens develop better social relationships in early adulthood.

The finding is published in the current online edition of the Journal of Youth and Adolescence, and runs counter to most assumptions that relate early teen sex to later drug use, criminality, antisocial behavior and emotional problems. The finding also contradicts parts of a study published earlier this year in the same journal that found a connection between early teen sex and later behavioral problems.

The researchers analyzed data on 534 same-sex twin pairs in the United States gathered at three time points over a seven-year period. By examining surveys of twins, the investigators were able to eliminate the genetic and socio-economic variables that otherwise might influence the behaviors of adolescents.

“We got a very surprising finding, particularly that early sex seems to forecast less antisocial behavior a few years later, rather than more,” said Kathryn Paige Harden, the study’s lead author and a Ph.D. candidate in clinical psychology at the University of Virginia.

“There is a cultural assumption in the United States that if teens have sex early it is somehow bad for their psychological health,” Harden said. “But we actually found that teens who had sex earlier seem to have better relationships later. Now we want to find out why.”

Harden says she plans further investigations that will look closely at the contexts of early teen sexual activity, such as the types of relationships, whether they were casual or intimate, how old the partners were, where the sex occurred and why, and how long the relationships lasted. She and her colleagues will then try to relate that to later behaviors and attitudes.

“Our hypothesis as a result of this finding is that teens who become involved in intimate romantic relationships early are having sex early and more often, but that those intimate relationships might later protect them from becoming involved in delinquent acts later,” Harden said. “People assume there is an association between early sex and later delinquency. It could be because teen sex transgresses parental expectations and is seen as impulsive or influenced by peer pressure. But people’s concerns about early sex leading to delinquency may not be warranted.”

Harden does acknowledge that early adolescent sexuality is linked to early pregnancy and disease, but these risks are not inevitable. She notes that in other Western countries, such as Australia, there are similar rates and patterns of teen sexual activity as in the United States, but drastically lower rates of teen pregnancy. She attributes this to a poor level of sexual health knowledge in the United States, ineffective contraceptive use and lower abortion rates.

“I doubt that early sexuality per se reduces delinquency,” said Harden’s advisor and co-author, Robert Emery, a U.Va. professor of psychology. “Early sex probably is a proxy for a strong romantic relationship, and strong relationships — think marriage — encourage pro-social instead of antisocial behavior. So, while our findings do run counter to received wisdom, the implication in my mind is to encourage strong romantic relationships not casual, early sex.”

Harden and her colleagues mined their data from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health, a nationally representative study designed to assess adolescent health and risk behavior. The data is gleaned from extensive surveys of teens that were collected in three waves between 1994 and 2002.