Sexual Behavior in Adolescence

Surveys conducted between the 1930s-1970s on the sexual behavior of adolescents are reviewed. This review concentrating on coitus focuses on the issue of liberalization in sexual behavior. Although there are large discrepancies in data from various surveys and methodological difficulties associated with most of them 3 major conclusions seem warranted. Older adolescents are more sexually experienced now than in earlier generations. Through the mid-1960s just over 1/2 of all males reported experiencing coitus by late in their college life and about 1/4 of all college women admitted premarital coitus. Recent data suggests a dramatic increase in coital experience among college students: between 70-85% for both genders. The data show a greater increase in incidence of coitus among women leading to intergender convergence in sexual standards. Data on sexual behavior in early and middle adolescence are less clear; however they do suggest that young people are engaging in intercourse at an earlier age than in previous decades. This shift toward sexual permissiveness may be part of a larger liberal trend in adolescent behavior but does not imply a complete overthrow of established standards or "sexual revolution.""