ABSTRACT

Early sexual debut has been a focus of social scientific research due to its association with adverse circumstances and negative outcomes. However, there has been a recent shift to considering not only chronological age, but also the degree to which the event is viewed to be optimally timed (i.e., the perception that it occurred at the “right time” versus too soon). The purpose of this study was to assess how individual/family background variables and contextual aspects of the experience (including partner and relationship aspects) are associated with both the actual age at sexual debut and the perceived acceptability of the timing of the event. Using data collected from students at a U.S. university between 1990 and 2019 (N = 6,430), several factors (in addition to chronological age) were associated with the perceived acceptability of the timing of sexual debut. Strong gender differences were found – women perceived their timing to be less acceptable, even though they did not differ from men in actual age at sexual debut. Other robust predictors of perceived acceptability included (lower) religious involvement and recalling desire (for the experience), pleasure, and lower guilt at the time. Only slight changes occurred over the 30-year period in age at sexual debut and perceived acceptability of the timing. Suggestions for future research are provided and implications for sex education/sexual health interventions are discussed.

摘要

由于与不利环境和负面结果有关，早期性行为一直是社会科学研究的焦点。然而，最近发生了转变，不仅要考虑实际年龄，还要考虑事件被认为是最佳时间的程度（即认为它发生在“正确的时间”而不是太快）。本研究的目的是评估个人/家庭背景变量和经历的背景方面（包括伴侣和关系方面）如何与首次性行为的实际年龄和事件时间的感知可接受性相关联。使用 1990 年至 2019 年间从美国大学的学生收集的数据（N= 6,430），几个因素（除了实际年龄）与首次性行为时间的感知可接受性有关。发现了强烈的性别差异——女性认为她们的时间不太容易接受，尽管她们在初次性行为时的实际年龄与男性没有差异。感知可接受性的其他强有力的预测因素包括（较低）宗教参与和回忆欲望（对于体验）、快乐和当时较低的内疚感。在 30 年的时间里，首次性行为的年龄和时间的可接受性只发生了轻微的变化。提供了对未来研究的建议，并讨论了对性教育/性健康干预的影响。