A growing number of teens and young adults say they've never had sexual contact with another person, according to the largest and most in-depth federal report to date on sexual behavior, sexual attraction and sexual identity in the United States.
The study, released Thursday by the National Center for Health Statistics, reports that 27% of men and 29% of women ages 15-24 say they have never had a sexual encounter. That's up from 22% for both sexes in the government's last such survey, released in 2005, based on 2002 data.
The new findings come from the 2006-08 National Survey of Family Growth, which involved interviews with thousands of people up to age 44, including 5,082 ages 15-24.
"The perception is all kids are engaging in oral sex. Obviously, that's not the case," says teen sexuality researcher Jennifer Manlove of the non-profit Child Trends. "They may be more in control of their behaviors than we think."
Among those ages 15-17 in the new study, 58% of girls and 53% of boys say they have not had sexual contact, compared with 49% of girls and 46% of boys in 2002. For those 20-24, 12% of women and 13% of men report no sexual contact, compared with 8% for both sexes in 2002.
Debbie Roffman, a sexuality educator in Baltimore, sees in the data "a trend toward postponement."
She notes there are "multiple factors at work," including not just greater caution due to fear of physical consequences, but also "greater involvement by parents."
While changes from the earlier study are small, the latest study goes into much greater detail and fills in many gaps in the 2002 data, lead author Anjani Chandra says.
Philadelphia-area psychologist Michael Bradley says despite assurances of privacy, young people may underreport sexual activity. "We do see kids less inclined to disclose these things than in the past," he says.
Among those ages 15-24, 63% of women and 64% of men report having had oral sex; 51% say they did so prior to ever having intercourse.
Researchers note that a growing percentage of genital herpes cases in the USA are attributed to oral sex. Other sexually transmitted diseases also can be spread by oral sex.
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