Is earlier sex education harmful?An analysis of the timing of school-based sex education and adolescent sexual behaviours Cheryl L. Somers Wayne State University Matt W. Eaves Eastern Illinois University Is earlier sex education harmful? he offering of sex education in public schools is often a topic of debate. What should be taught and when are frequently asked questions. A fair amount of research has explored the influences of sex education on the initiation and frequency of sexual intercourse. The rationale behind formal instruction in sex education is that knowledge about human reproduction, sexual behaviour, and contraception could dispel misconceptions, myths, and half-truths while encouraging more informed, responsible decision making about individual sexual behaviour. A variety of studies have evaluated the effectiveness of school sexual education programmes in terms of their impact on adolescent sexual knowledge, attitudes, and behaviours. However, the results have not been consistent, some finding positive effects and others finding no influence. Some studies have shown education programmes to influence students’ sexual knowledge in a positive way. For example, Kirby (1980) found that instruction in sexual education increases sexual knowledge. This finding was consistent across all studies reviewed (Dawson, 1986; Finkel and Finkel, 1985; Melchert and Burnett, 1990; Shelly, 1981), although the degree of significance varied, with some finding small and some finding large influences. The research on sexual attitudes is less positive. Although one study (Hoch, 1971) concluded that courses on sexuality increase the tolerance of the students’ attitudes towards the sexual practice of others, many studies have found that sex education did not make a difference in adolescents’ attitudes. Parcel and Luttman (1981) found that most programmes did not change the direction of students’ attitudes toward pre-marital sex, birth control, or other issues of sexuality. Finkel and Finkel (1985) also found that the programmes did not have a measurable impact on adolescents’ attitudes toward sexuality. Similarly, studies have looked at how sex education has impacted sexual behaviours. In most of those studies, formal sex education was found to have little or no impact on sexual behaviours (Dawson, 1986; McKay, 1993; Maslach and Kerr, 1983; Zelink and Kim, 1982). However, sexual behaviour has commonly been defined as sexual intercourse and it may be important to consider other definitions. These inconsistent findings in the literature warrant further investigation if T 23 1999) and to select responsible courses of action (Lowenstein and Furstenberg. One survey revealed that 44 per cent of girls and 64 per cent of boys report that they were sexually active by their eighteenth birthday (Hayes. Today’s teenagers reach physical maturity earlier and marry later. Weinstein et al.. of AIDS (Jacobson et al. 1999. including a later onset of experimentation with sexual intercourse. Other researchers have found that adolescents’ knowledge of fact-based sexuality and biology information (Moore and Rosenthal. may lack the cognitive maturity and skills necessary to understand the consequences and implications of sexual activity (Steinberg.. 1991) or of how to use birth control (Melchert and Burnett. Few studies have examined the relation between the age at which sex education is taught and the occurrence of sexual behaviour during adolescence. This further suggests that the timing of sexual education is crucial. A key variable to consider is when children are first exposed to it. The focus on the timing of first sexual intercourse is especially important because early sexual debut is associated with more risky sexual behaviour such as having multiple partners (Seidman et al. Studies have found that approximately eight in ten males and seven in ten females are sexually experienced by age 19 (Guttmacher. teens were more likely to use condoms during first and later sexual intercourse (Miller et al. and especially younger teens.. and can consist of a wide range of approaches and topics. Additionally. age of first exploration with intercourse and frequency of sexual behaviour are important developmental issues to consider. 1981. One study revealed that. Zabin et al. to the choice of variables that have been included in prior research. 1986). A steady increase has occurred in the percentage of young people having sexual intercourse and a decrease in the age at which sexual intercourse is initiated (Haffner. 1998). greater levels of sexual knowledge were not necessarily a prerequisite for adolescents who chose to be sexually active (Eisen and Zellman. and early onset lengthens the time at risk of adolescent pregnancy and sexually transmitted infections. Indeed. 1987).1989). Miller and Moore. 67 24 Research in Education we are to better understand what can influence adolescent sexual development and behaviour.. ‘Sex education’ generally occurs at more than a single point in time. Adolescents generally . 1987). 1994. contrary to popular belief. Teens. 1994).No. which may explain these inconsistencies seen in the literature. 1996). Therefore it may be important to look at other factors of sex education. Hayes. 1990) does not necessarily stop them from engaging in unprotected sex or unreliable contraceptive use. when mothers and adolescents communicated about condom use before the teens initiated sexual intercourse. By age 15 seven in ten boys and five in ten girls have had sexual intercourse (Masserman and Uribe. It may be that the inconsistencies are due. Perhaps the age at which sex education is introduced is a more consistent influence on sexuality. 1984).. but sexually experienced teens usually indicate that the best age for first intercourse is older than they were when they began having sex (Somers. 1990). adolescents themselves appear to hold values and attitudes consistent with responsible sexual conduct. at least in part. 1991. 1992). Specifically. As assessed by the Hollingshead index (1975).Is earlier sex education harmful? feel invulnerable in that they tend not to relate actions to consequences. It assessed in which school grade the students first learned about twenty different aspects of sexuality. oral sex). The purpose of this study was to examine whether timing of sex education was predictive of onset of sexual intercourse and frequency of sexual behaviour generally. The following ten topics were used in the study: dating relationships.g. This scale was created for the purposes of the research. No differences appear between the two samples on any analyses. sexual intercourse. Earlier education may help prepare adolescents better by providing information about the sexual decisions that they will have to face. 42 per cent of families were working-class and 58 per cent were middle-class. masturbation. 1999) and that their limited cognitive development is linked with risktaking behaviour (Lapsley. The twenty topics were selected by examining the topics that tend to be asked in a variety of sexual attitude and behaviour instruments. 1983). Timing of sexual education. 2000). Method Participants Participants in this study were 158 American adolescents (sixty-three boys and ninety-five girls) in the ninth through twelfth grades. past literature indirectly suggests that teenagers are often educated after it is too late (Somers and Paulson. Furthermore. rape. perhaps leading to greater risk-taking behaviour than among adults (Chilman. petting. and measures of frequency of sexual behaviours and age at first sexual intercourse. homosexuality. and contrary to common belief among many parents and school personnel. 25 . Based on this prior research and theory. and therefore they were not included in the analyses. with approximately equal proportions from each grade level. The subjects were derived from two suburban areas of a large Midwestern city and the majority of respondents were white (87·3 per cent). Measures Questionnaires included a demographics section. The mean age of the adolescents was 16·2 years (range 14–18 years). the participants reported little formal learning about them (e. it was suspected that earlier education on certain topics would be related to less frequent sexual behaviour and to an older age of onset of sexual intercourse. a measure of timing of sexual education topics. Thus earlier education of accurate information may in part combat these developmental limitations. 1996). The specific research questions were: (1) ‘Is timing of sex education related to age of onset of sexual intercourse?’ and (2) ‘Is timing of sex education related to frequency of sexual behaviour?’ Past theory suggests that some teens may be unable to deal with sexual situations at an early age (Steinberg. For half of the topics. statistical significance is acknowledged only if p < 0·05. Responses were summed and higher numbers represent greater amounts or frequencies of sexual behaviour. A correlation matrix among the primary variables appears in Table 2. The range of responses regarding first sex education about various topics is relatively wide. 67 Research in Education 26 birth control in general. and thus it was not possible to link additional data to the adolescents’ surveys. Information was not available from the school regarding the actual programming that children received. a correlation was run between the average age at which the adolescents learned about a combination of all sex education topics and the average frequency of all sexual behaviour. and discussion with others about sex and contraception. A monetary lottery incentive was given. the school insisted that surveys be anonymous. Sexual behaviour was measured using the sexual behaviours section of the Sexual Knowledge and Attitudes Test for Adolescents (SKAT-A) (Leif et al. love and/or marriage. and whether pre-marital sex is right or wrong.No. Is timing of sex education related to frequency of sexual behaviour? First. They were encouraged to complete the questionnaires individually and. the participants in one school took questionnaires home to complete and bring back the next day. This was measured by asking the age at which the adolescents first experienced sexual intercourse. upon bringing them back to school. sexually transmitted diseases. Purpose 1. Results Means and standard deviations for all variables are presented in Table 1. The participants in the second school completed the surveys as part of a health class. Onset of sexual intercourse. using birth control themselves. Only statistically significant results are presented here. For all analyses.. the consequences of teen pregnancy. Sexual behaviour. Also. adolescents rated their frequency of involvement in each activity on a five-point scale ranging from ‘never’ to ‘daily’. indicating important variability within the sample. The eighteen items fell into four general topic areas: dating behaviour. About one half of the students returned their questionnaires. sexual intercourse. contraceptive use. No significant correlation emerged. In response to eighteen questions concerning sexual behaviour and experience. Procedure Upon permission from parents. Questionnaires were anonymous and only group results are reported. Table 2 . they put the questionnaires into one large group container to ensure that no other participants or the researcher saw their responses to the questions. The participation rate was near 100 per cent. Subjects and their parents were offered the opportunity to receive a copy of the results of the study when it was complete. 1990). For girls. earlier learning about masturbation was correlated with less frequent petting (r = 0·32) and oral sex (r = 0·44). Additionally.Is earlier sex education harmful? Table 1 Means and standard deviations of primary variables Total sample Variable Dating relationship Petting Sexual intercourse Birth control Personal use of birth control Consequences Sexually transmitted diseases Love and/or marriage Pre-marital sex right or wrong Age of onset of sexual intercourse Total frequency of sexual behaviours Mean 6·46 7·00 6·66 7·02 7·45 7·30 7·51 6·65 7·35 14·13 S. earlier learning about dating was correlated with more frequent viewing (r = – 0·49) and reading (r = – 0·50) of pornography. 1·89 1·84 2·00 1·63 1·72 1·53 1·63 1·92 1·40 3·21 Males Mean 6·15 6·61 6·65 6·94 7·16 7·13 7·19 6·68 7·39 14·25 S. Earlier learning about masturbation was correlated with more frequent kissing (r = – 0·53) and petting (r = – 0·55). Earlier learning about petting was correlated with more petting (r = – 0·46) and oral sex (r = – 0·61). Finally. but also more communication with 27 . Similarly. Among girls. only earlier education about masturbation was correlated significantly with total sexual behaviour (r = 0·33). The results were not significant. a canonical correlation analysis was run to explore combined relations among the sex education and sexual behaviour variables. Earlier learning about the consequences of teen pregnancy was also correlated with less communication with partners about sex (r = 0·26) and contraception (r = 0·28) and with friends about contraception (r = 0·25). 1·80 1·86 1·94 1·68 1·59 1·55 1·60 2·18 1·53 3·93 39·59 10·79 40·73 11·48 38·85 10·32 presents a correlation analysis of total frequency of sexual behaviours with the ten individual sexual education variables. but also more communication with friends about sex (r = – 0·39) and contraception (r = – 0·50).d. 2·02 1·77 2·13 1·58 1·83 1·50 1·65 1·44 1·23 1·59 Females Mean 6·67 7·35 6·66 7·07 7·74 7·41 7·70 6·63 7·31 14·06 S. Earlier learning about personal use of birth control was correlated with less communication with parents about sex (r = 0·57) and with friends about contraception (r = 0·49). When considering Pearson correlations between the individual sexual behaviour variables and the age of learning about each sexual education topic.d. but also with more communication with partners about contraception (r = – 0·37).d. the analyses revealed several statistically significant results for boys and girls. earlier learning about whether pre-marital sex is right or wrong was correlated with less communication with parents about both sex (r = 0·35) and contraception (r = 0·36). Among boys a different pattern emerged. dating (r = 0·61). For boys. and petting (r = 0·47). more total sexual behaviour was related to earlier learning about masturbation (r = 0·36). Table 2 Correlations among primary variables for boys and girls separately 2 0·77*** 0·79*** 1·00 0·74*** 0·75*** 0·86*** 0·58*** –0·59*** 0·32 0·77*** –0·16 –0·07 0·73*** 0·63*** 0·72*** 0·66*** 0·58*** 0·87*** 0·79*** 0·44** 0·49** 0·72*** 0·78*** 0·69*** 1·00 0·77*** 0·76*** 0·61*** 0·55*** 1·00 0·81*** 0·83*** 0·60*** 0·82*** 1·00 0·94*** 0·42*** 0·58*** 0·89*** 1·00 0·53*** 0·59*** 0·69*** 0·82*** 0·52*** 0·37* 0·29 0·42** 0·62*** 0·55*** 0·62** 0·50** 0·73 0·92 –0·02 –0·07 –0·01 –0·01 0·28 0·21 0·68*** 0·48** 0·64*** 0·57*** 0·85*** 0·92*** 0·89*** 1·00 0·46*** 0·67*** 0·09 0·11 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 –0·36* –0·61*** –0·47* –0·26 –0·33 –0·33 –0·18 –0·25 –0·24 –0·29 0·05 1·00 Variable 1 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 Masturbation Dating relationships Petting Sexual intercourse Birth control Personal use of birth control Consequences Sexually transmitted diseases Love and/or marriage Pre-marital sex right or wrong Age of onset of sexual intercourse Sexual behaviour 1·00 0·35 0·63*** 1·00 0·82*** 0·72*** 0·59*** 0·53*** 0·75*** 0·36* 0·88*** 0·60* 0·72*** 0·39*** 0·68*** 0·48*** 0·36 0·23 0·74*** 0·75*** 0·08 –0·35 0·33* –0·03 0·13 0·50* 0·58* 0·63*** 0·58** 0·51 0·55** 0·73*** 0·52 0·65** 0·50* –0·26 0·87*** 0·67*** 0·25 0·88*** 0·44 0·00 0·68*** 0·72*** –0·12 0·65*** 0·58*** –0·09 1·00 0·76*** –0·47 0·78*** 1·00 –0·42 –0·44 –0·36 1·00 –0·01 –0·12 0·40* Note Results for males appear above the diagonal and results for females appear below the diagonal. . First. However. Discussion The first purpose of this study was to explore whether or not the timing of school-based sex education was related to frequency of sexual behaviours.Is earlier sex education harmful? friends about sex (r = – 0·48). consequences of teen pregnancy. and earlier learning about sexually transmitted diseases (r = – 0·35) and sexual intercourse (r = – 0·35) correlated with more frequent kissing. if they are brought up too early. Regression analyses were used to determine how well onset of sexual intercourse could be predicted by timing of sexual education. ages of first learning about nine sex education topics were collapsed into three groups to accommodate the sample size. the issue of directionality in the relations is important to 29 . love and/or marriage. The findings were mixed both within and between genders. The first group (‘Sexual acts’) consisted of age of learning about masturbation. Among boys. petting. Is timing of sex education related to onset of experimentation with sexual intercourse? To examine the relation between the timing of sex education and the onset of sexual intercourse both correlation analyses and regression analyses were used. it may actually inhibit what are generally considered positive activities like sexual communication. and sexually transmitted diseases. specifically kissing and petting. There are two interpretations that can be offered. suggesting that there may be a fine line at which adolescents are ready or not ready to learn about certain topics. earlier learning about personal use of birth control and about whether pre-marital sex is right or wrong was related to less communication with certain others about sex and contraception. For girls. The data reveal that earlier learning is actually correlated with more of certain behaviours like petting. and sexual intercourse. This was especially true of communication with parents. To do this. The second group (‘Values’) comprised dating relationships. the results appear to be somewhat opposite those of girls. Earlier learning about birth control correlated with more petting (r = – 0·40). The third group (‘Outcomes of sexual behaviours’) consisted of birth control. Purpose 2. A separate regression analysis was run for each of the three groups and they did not significantly predict onset of sexual intercourse. An examination of Pearson correlations among these variables individually revealed that only for boys was earlier learning about masturbation correlated with an earlier age of first sexual intercourse (r = 0·58). however. and whether pre-marital sex is right or wrong. These topics are of a very personal nature and it may be that. earlier learning about their own bodies via masturbation was related to less frequent behaviour involving others. The correlation analyses revealed that there was no significant relation between the average age of all sex education topics and onset of sexual intercourse. These methodological alterations would be ideal in future studies. although it was clear that adolescents were to provide information about school-based learning. The individual sex education topics were all moderately intercorrelated. learning about ‘dating’ was not clearly defined. but instead from peers at school. Although it is the adolescents’ and not parents’ perceptions that have been argued to be linked with outcomes (Acock and Bengtson. suggesting that the adolescents learned about topics at around the same time. researchers have suggested that parents often do not start educating their children about sex until after the behaviours begin (Somers and Paulson. Perhaps most important. when taught about sexual values and the potential consequences of sex early on. which necessitated the early education. Perhaps they reported learning about certain things in school. adolescents may choose alternative behaviours. which is generally viewed as a positive activity linked with desirable outcomes. it must also be considered that the adolescents were not accurate in their reporting of data. future research needs to improve methods of identifying more definitively what topics were learned at what ages. it was not related to more advanced behaviours like sexual intercourse. Secondly. because peers have been found to have poor knowledge of sexual issues (Somers and Paulson. 67 30 Research in Education consider. Prevention of premature sexual activity is an important part of ensuring healthy adolescent development in general. although earlier learning was related to some behaviours. as it is most likely that those boys who were engaging in more frequent sexual acts had sought out more education/information about those topics. teens could have been engaging in these behaviours already. It may also be that the students confused what was actually learned in school with what they learned from other sources such as peers. Also. it is possible that the earlier learning stimulates engagement in the less advanced behaviours as a replacement for more serious or risky activities. 2000). for both boys and girls. However. the learning ranged over a span of two and a half to four years. because adolescents are not uniformly capable of handling sexual activity at early ages. Indeed. which reflects substantial variability. several limitations of the study must be considered.No. . 1980). While these findings are interesting and informative. Peers can be very influential. Therefore it is possible that. For example. This is ideal. other factors may be influencing the relations. Because this is correlational. It is also salient to note that. Earlier learning about some topics even seems to be having an impact on communication about sexuality for boys. Given limited cognitive development in early and even middle adolescence. These adolescents reported engaging in slightly less sexual behaviour than is typical of the American adolescent population. As a second interpretation of these boys’ results. earlier learning about various sexuality topics was generally not related to earlier initiation of sexual intercourse. 2000). it can be viewed positively that earlier sex education does not contribute to earlier risk behaviour. but it was not from the curriculum. television. instead of the reverse. or books. though. but this can be problematic. 9–22. Journal of School and Scientific Teaching 8. (1971). and childbearing. 162–70. although more research is needed. ‘The effects of school sex education: a review of the literature’. It is certainly not accurate to continue to assume that earlier sex education has uniformly negative influences. Washington DC: National Academy Press. 501–15. (1983). V. ‘The effects of sex education on adolescent behavior’. D. L. School sex education as a whole was not significantly correlated with the adolescents’ frequency of sexual behaviour in general or age of first sexual intercourse.. 151–2. D. M. L. C. New York: Guttmacher Institute. S. 31 . Journal of Marriage and the Family 42 (5). sex education. D. Risking the Future: adolescent sexuality. Journal of School Health 50 (10). Gottschlich. L. (1980). The Problem that Hasn’t Gone Away.Is earlier sex education harmful? Overall. Adolescent Sexuality in a Changing American Society: social and psychological perspectives for the human services professions. Haffner. Journal of Health Education 25 (1). References Acock. ‘Sexual health for America’s adolescents’. when drawing conclusions about the impact of sex education one must consider the issue of adults’ judgement of negative versus positive sexual behaviours. L. Specifically. future research may want to focus not only on how school-based education affects adolescents’ sexual behaviours. D. (1996). (1985). It is also apparent that there are different effects of education on patterns of sexual behaviour for male and female adolescents.. Guttmacher. and on how a combination of sources affect their behaviours (including information learned from parents. A. 559–63.. A. Hoch. H. Family Planning Perspectives 18. A. Chilman. S. W. Lapsley. L. G. and Beaty. M. The data are a useful contribution to the limited existing literature. and Finkel. Aldana. D. (1980). 48–53. T. Boston MA. pregnancy. Health Education Quarterly 13 (1). and Zellman. and Bengtson. and this must be addressed accordingly. and media)... It is normal for adolescents to have sexual experiences. Perhaps the ultimate focus should be on responsibility. Journal of School Health 66 (4). Hayes. M. and Raney.. Jacobson. S. Dawson. and demographics in predicting adolescents’ sexuality knowledge’. Kirby. (1987). Above all. the data suggest that sexual education at an early age can be beneficial when care is taken in the topics taught.. Finkel. peers. S. 363–7. (1986). Flannery. 10–12. (1996).. ‘Adolescent sexual behaviour and associated variables’. (1986). G. C. D. All sexual behaviours are not necessarily bad or undesirable. ‘Attitude change as a result of sex education’. paper presented at the biennial meeting of the Society for Research on Adolescence.. ‘Socialization and attribution processes: actual versus perceived similarity among parents and youth’. New York: Wiley. ed. ‘Sex education in high school’. as a preliminary evaluation of the timing of sex education. Society 23. (1994). C. (1981). regardless of their level of education. March. ‘Sources of Risk and Resilience in Adolescent Mental Health’. Eisen. ‘The role of health belief attitudes. but also on the differences between formal and informal school-based education. a topic that also needs to be addressed in future studies. N.. Canadian Journal of Human Sexuality 2 (2). ‘The social context of adolescent sexuality: safe sex implications’. Zelnik. ‘Is teenage sexual behaviour rational?’ Journal of Applied Social Psychology 21. Street. (1983).. ‘Adolescents’ knowledge of AIDS and behaviour change: implications for education’. A. I. G. C. D. ‘Research supports broadly based sex education’. Mosher. Weinstein.. H. G. Journal of Adolescent Health 15. Steinberg. 629–44. Adolescent Sexuality.. Rosen. (1990). (2000). (1993). 293–98. and Devlin. 88 (10). Adolescence. and Rosenthal.. and Paulson. B. E. S. A. J. F. Adolescence 18 (70). USA. V. Fullard. R. B. ‘Adolescent sexual behaviour. E. Smith. and Luttman. and Atwood. G. 313–18. Maslach. Journal of Adolescence 15 (4). and parenting: research through the 1980s’. 55–60. M. M. 415–35. Family Planning Perspectives 18 (3). Journal of Adolescence 23. K. L. Family Planning Perspectives 14 (3)... ‘Evaluation of sex education course for young adolescents’. Journal of Sex Research 17 (4). E-mail c.. (1989). and Kerr. attitudes and behaviors’. 1025–44. Journal of Marriage and the Family 52. 67 Research in Education 32 Leif. M. knowledge. 119–26. T. S. K. E..
[email protected] . J. K. B. (1986). (1999). E. Hirsh. I. and Burnett. and contraceptive use’. Whitake. 345 College of Education.. L. Journal of Counseling and Development 68 (3). L. S. S. 117–26.... and Hardy. and sexual behaviour of high-risk adolescents: implications for counseling and sexuality education’. 126–32. G. Address for correspondence Cheryl L. (1992). Moore. and Moore. Zabin. Miller. (1990). Journal of Health Education 22 (5). ‘A new measure of adolescent sexuality: SKAT-A’. J. ‘Students’ perceptions of parent–adolescent closeness and communication about sexuality: relations with sexual knowledge. and Aral. S. (1982). W. O. Lowenstein.. 449–56. M. C. S. and Uribe. (1991). F. and Xu.. W. S. Levin. Detroit MI 48202.. L. and Furstenberg. Somers. H. 350–67. ‘Attitudes. B. (1998). Masserman. ‘Patterns of condom use among adolescents: the impact of mother–adolescent communication’. Parcel. Melchert. pregnancy. Wayne State University. pregnancy. S. D. New York: McGraw-Hill. X. ‘Evaluation of a pregnancy prevention program for urban teenagers’. ‘Tailoring sex-education programmes to adolescents: a strategy for the primary prevention of unwanted adolescent pregnancies’.No. S. 957–86. D. (1981). Family Relations 301 (1). Springfield IL: Thomas. 89–98. 1542–4.. Jr (1991). Somers. F. Journal of Sex Education and Therapy 16 (2). Shelly. ‘Predictor of high-risk behaviour in unmarried American women: adolescent environment as a risk factor’. D.. Miller. (1994). J.. A. ‘Sex education and its association with teenage sexual activity. Seidman. (1990). fifth edition. (1981).. 303–20. ‘Adolescent attitudes as related to perception of parents and sex education’. American Journal of Public Health. K. J.