Teenage Sex and Pregnancy by Peggy J. Parks

One-third (34%) of high school students are currently sexually active, defined as having had sexual intercourse with at least one person in the previous three months.The percentage of high school students who report having had four or more sexual partners declined from 18% in 1995 to 15% in 2013. More than one in ten (13%) female teens and one in six (17%) male teens had more than four sexual partners in their lives.A higher share of Black high school students (14%) and Hispanic students (6%) initiated sex before age 13 compared to White students (3%). Black high school students are more likely to have had intercourse (60%) compared to White (44%) and Hispanic students (49%). There are racial and ethnic differences in sexual activity rates.A similar share of male and female students report ever having had sex (48% vs. Nearly half (47%) of all high school students report ever having had sexual intercourse in 2013, a decline from 54% in 1991.This fact sheet provides key data on sexual activity, contraceptive use, pregnancy, prevalence of STIs, and access to reproductive health services among teenagers and young adults in the U.S. than in other developed nations and are considerably higher among certain racial and ethnic minorities and in different geographic regions in the nation. Despite this shift, recent data indicate that the rates of unintended pregnancy and sexually transmitted infections (STIs) among teens and young adults remain higher in the U.S. Similarly there has been a drop off in the share of adolescents engaging in sexual activity. These four groups of programs include (a) sex and HIV education curricula with specified characteristics, (b) one-on-one clinician-patient protocols in health settings with some common qualities, (c) service learning programs, and (d) a particular intensive youth development program with multiple components.In recent years, there has been a reduction in rates of teen pregnancy, births, and abortions. This article summarizes a review of 73 studies and their respective programs, and describes four groups of programs which have reasonably strong evidence that they delay sex, increase condom or contraceptive use, or reduce teen pregnancy or childbearing. While many of these approaches have some positive effects upon some outcomes (such as greater knowledge), only some of these programs actually delay the initiation of sex, increase condom or contraceptive use, and reduce unprotected sex among youth. In the United States, there exist a multitude of different approaches to reducing adolescent sexual risk-taking, unintended pregnancy, childbearing, and sexually transmitted disease, including HIV.

Teenage Sex and Pregnancy by Peggy J. Parks