Answer:
The initiation of sexual intercourse is an important topic in the study and prediction of fertility. In their theoretical analysis of fertility and its determinants, Davis and Blake (1956) argued that socioeconomic and other factors affect fertility only through its proximate determinants, that is, through exposure to sexual intercourse, exposure to conception, given intercourse, and gestation and successful parturition, given conception. Since under all but exceptional circumstances, conception does not occur without it, sexual intercourse is the first of these proximate factors to be examined. In the past, fertility was studied primarily within marriage. This was not only due to the difficulty of obtaining information on sexual behavior, but also to the assumption that intercourse takes place primarily within marriage. However, recently the study of sexual intercourse itself has taken on more importance. This is, first, because of the increased separation of sexual activity from marriage. A substantial amount of sexual activity and, thus, exposure to the risk of pregnancy occurs outside the marriage relationship. As a result, an increasing proportion of childbearing occurs outside of marriage—12 percent of white and 57 percent of black children were born to an unmarried mother in 1982 (NCHS, 1984). Although some teens are married, the majority are not. The proportion of out-of-wedlock childbearing is even higher among teenagers. Thirty-six percent of births to white teens 15–19 and 87 percent of the births to black teens 15–19 occurred outside of marriage in the United States in 1982 (NCHS, 1984). Another important factor is the increase in cohabitation (Spanier, 1982; Blanc, 1984). Although the number of cohabiting couples with children in the United States is relatively small (about 30 percent), it increased between 1975 and 1980 (Spanier, 1983). Thus not only is the study of factors affecting the initiation of sexual activity among unmarried as well as married women important today, but it has become critical to any prediction of future fertility.
A second important reason for studying the initiation of sexual intercourse is that, above and beyond its impact on fertility, too early sexual activity in or outside of marriage may not be desirable for the youth involved. This is an important issue. Since almost everyone eventually becomes sexually active, what age is “too early” is an important question, but one which is continually being redefined by changes in patterns of sexual activity and the definition of “too early” varies by individual. It is generally based on judgements about maturity and physical development that do not progress at the same speed or age for all people. The definition and the consequences sexual activity may have for an adolescent also vary across groups in the society which hold different views on what behavior is appropriate. To define what age is “too early” will require even closer social science scrutiny to its consequences net of childbearing.
This chapter focuses on the initiation of sexual intercourse among teenagers. Because of potential differential interest in teens at different ages, ages are divided, where possible, into the three age groups most commonly used in the data: less than 15, 15 to 17, and 18 to 19. Unfortunately little information is available for the under 15 age group, but data will be presented when available.
This paper also focuses on the initiation of sexual intercourse rather than a variety of other sexual activities, primarily because the major interest is in behavior that involves pregnancy risk. However, an additional reason is that the traditional ordered scale of sexual activities which is often used—holding hands, kissing, necking, petting above the waist, petting below the waist, intercourse—does not appear to apply to blacks. That is, blacks are likely to have experienced intercourse before behaviors “earlier” on the scale (Smith and Udry, 1985).
The outline of this chapter is the following: The incidence of sexual intercourse among teenagers is first described. Second, a model of the process of initiation of sexual intercourse is discussed. Third, research bearing on each of the aspects of the model is discussed, following the same logical outline. In particular, the empirical evidence on the linkages between background factors and sexual intercourse is presented, followed by evidence on the intervening linkages between background and intercourse. The chapter focus is on the research that sheds some light on the process whereby background factors affect sexual activity, that is, on explaining sexual activity. The reader should continue to refer the model, as the outline follows it closely.
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