Sexually Active Teens More Depressed

Mike McK · Jun 3, 2003

From http://www.frc.org ...

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- A new study shows that sexual activity among high school age boys and girls often has harmful emotional and psychological consequences. Sexually active teens are less likely to be happy, more likely to be depressed and more likely to attempt suicide. The majority of sexually active teens state that they regret their initial sexual activity and wish they had waited until they were older before becoming sexually active.

Family Research Council's Bridget Maher, policy analyst on marriage and family issues, said this study was consistent with other research on the effects of sexual activity on teens. Miss Maher said, "This study is one more reason why abstinence education is a more compassionate policy approach than pushing 'safe sex.' Condoms, while never 100 percent effective in protecting against the spread of diseases, can never prevent a broken heart and the serious emotional turmoil of out-of-wedlock sex." Maher is the author of The Family Portrait, a compilation of data, research, and public opinion on the family published by FRC and which contains an in-depth chapter on teen sex.

The study, conducted by the Heritage Foundation, is based on data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Adolescent Health, a nationwide survey which examined behaviors of adolescents in junior high and high school. Among the findings were:

* Teenage girls who are sexually active
are three times more likely to be depressed than are girls who are not active. Those girls who are sexually active are almost three times more likely to attempt suicide than are girls who are not active.

* Teenage boys who are sexually active are more than twice as likely to be depressed than are boys who are not active. Those boys who are sexually active are almost ten times more likely to attempt suicide than are boys who are not active.

* Almost two-thirds of sexually active teenage boys and girls state that they wish they had waited longer before beginning sexual activity. Almost three quarters of sexually active teenage girls state they wish they had waited longer before beginning sexual activity.
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I don't think it's any big surprise that to open yourself up to someone so intimately before you're ready is just asking for trouble and I think this bears this out.

The only question I have about this is how many of these kids were depressed to begin with and were looking for validation through sex?

Charlesga · Jun 3, 2003

The only question I have about this is how many of these kids were depressed to begin with and were looking for validation through sex?
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Excellent point. Working with teens, I see this happen often. Depressed teens may turn to sex because they believe they will be accepted. I imagine the depression is often present before the sexual relationship, then the sexual relationship just makes matters worse.

Charles

donnA · Jun 4, 2003

I don't think it is surprising that sex outside of God's guidelines has such negative effects.

stubbornkelly · Jun 4, 2003

The only question I have about this is how many of these kids were depressed to begin with and were looking for validation through sex?
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Bingo.

Helen · Jun 4, 2003

Teens typically go through cycles of depression and excitement. My 18 year old daughter mentioned something to me that I found very interesting recently. She just graduated from high school and in a family dinner discussion recently the subject of teen sex came up. Her comments had to do with the fact that in her group -- which is quite large as she tends to attract people to an astonishing degree -- there are only two kids who are NOT virgin.

However over half of the kids are products of divorced parents, and not all of them even graduated due to failed courses or failed comps or not enough credits. Plenty of reason for depression.

Listening to her, and remembering my own teen years, and hearing Barry talk about his, the tentative conclusion I would come to here is that it is not a matter of one's emotional state, but rather a matter of peer pressure. If you are in a group that values virginity, then no matter how depressed you feel, you will probably not be involved in sex. If you are in a group that challenges its members to have sex, then sex will be had.

And I know from having been a single parent for many years that the group the kid runs with is not totally out of parental control!

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