Skip to Content, Navigation, or Footer.

Unprotected first sex more likely among females, student finds


Females are more likely to have unprotected first-time sex than their male counterparts, an ASU student has found.

Doctoral sociology student Nicole Weller said the goal of her research was to draw possible parallels between sex education and contraception use. These preliminary results, which she plans to expand on, surprised her, she said.

“Although I didn’t find anything significant in terms of sexual awareness, I did find that females as opposed to males were more likely to have unprotected first sex,” Weller said. “Which was interesting because males are more likely to engage in more risky behaviors.”

Weller analyzed data released in June from the National Survey of Family Growth, which has been gathering information every year since 1973 on subjects like pregnancy, family life and contraception. She reported these findings Monday in Denver at the American Public Health Association Annual Meeting and Exposition.

Out of 5,012 males and females between the ages of 15 and 19, Weller found that about 13 percent of them reported having unprotected first sex. Females made up more than 60 percent of that group.

“This study is more of a preliminary analysis,” Weller said. “When girls are having first sex, it’s possible that the male is older and she might be more willing to trust in his experience.”

Weller said she wants to next look into the relationship status of those reporting unprotected first sex.

“I think it also has something to do with the relationship,” she said. “Girls may think, ‘He’s my boyfriend, I love and trust him.’”

Weller looked at any reported sexual activity for adolescents aged 11 to 19, and of those, 15 to 19-year-olds were waiting longer to have their first sexual encounters and had the highest rate of contracting sexually transmitted diseases, she said.

While condoms prevent STDs, birth control pills do not, so the type of contraception used is also going to be researched, Weller said.

“It’s very easy for females to have a birth control pill — that’s something they can do privately,” she said. “Using a condom actually has to be brought up; it requires a conversation and there are a lot of factors that go into not using one.”

She said her findings did not show whether sex education is effective, and that those experiencing unprotected first sex are a very unique set of the population.

“Adolescents are aware of the risks that are associated with sexual activity, and they might be using one type of contraception over another,” Weller said. “But if their relationship status changes or if they start using another type of contraception, that can be what’s causing their high STD rate.”

Scott Yabiku, an associate professor in ASU’s School of Social and Family Dynamics and Weller’s research adviser, said a female’s use of contraception during first sex has to do with the balance of power between her and her partner.

“When first sexual experiences are happening, there’s often an age difference between partners, and usually it’s going to be the female that’s younger than the male,” Yabiku said. “She’ll have less power or autonomy to control the nature of the sexual interaction.”

He said simply telling adolescents to use protection was not enough in terms of sex education.

“The general message in sex education is ‘always use protection,’ and it’s good as a phrase, but when you actually try to implement that, it can be hard,” Yabiku said. “People need concrete steps to follow, just the mantra is not going to help them.”

Social work junior Nancy Reina grew up in Casa Grande, where she said she saw unprotected sex as common and the results of Weller’s research were not surprising.

“We don’t have programs that educate the youth on how to approach sex,” she said of her experience with sexual education programs. “Unprotected sex was very, very common.”

Reach the reporter at ymgonzal@asu.edu


Continue supporting student journalism and donate to The State Press today.

Subscribe to Pressing Matters



×

Notice

This website uses cookies to make your experience better and easier. By using this website you consent to our use of cookies. For more information, please see our Cookie Policy.