14 and younger: the sexual behavior of young adolescents. Summary.

Abstract

The full report on which this summary is based contains seven papers based on six different data sets — three national and three local ones. These data were collected for different purposes in different years and places (school home) and using different interview techniques (self- and interviewer-administered). The surveys also used different methods of gathering data on youth aged 12-14 surveying 12- 13- and 14-year-olds at the same time; surveying a group of 12-year-olds and then following them over time as they turned 13 and 14; and surveying older teens about their experiences when age 14 and younger. These differences are important and care must be taken in pooling results or making comparisons across different data sets. For example a survey asking teens 15 and older about earlier experiences can in theory capture quite complete data on behavior occurring at ages 14 and younger. But surveys where youth are age 12-14 at the time of interview will necessarily miss some behavior that occurs in the 14th year of life but after the time of the interview unless a “life table” analytic approach is used as is the case for a few specific variables in the papers based on national data sets. These technical issues are taken up in detail in the individual papers. Nonetheless it is striking that on some of the most basic markers of sexual activity there is a high degree of uniformity — especially among the nationally representative data sets — and a surprisingly consistent picture emerges of sexual relationships and activity among very young teens. (excerpt)