Sexual Development Flashcards
Basic Tenet
Variations in gender identity and expression are normal aspects of human diversity and do not constitute a mental disorder. Binary definitions of gender may not reflect emerging gender identities.
Biological Sex
a person’s biologically assigned identity (defined by chromosomes, genitals, secondary sexual characteristics as determined by hormonal influences
Gender
a person’s social and cultural identity as male, female, or other (based on culturally determined social meanings and characteristics)
Gender identity
one’s awareness of one’s gender
Gender role stereotype (expression)
behaviors, values, or motives that a society considers more typical for members of a particular sex (culturally determined and varies from one to another culture)
Gender typing
the process by which a child becomes aware of his or her gender and acquires gender role stereotypes
Gender Typing
Gender typing is the confluence of three aspects of gender:
how we identify, how we express ourselves and how our culture/society expects us to express ourselves around gender
Gender Identity
Age 0-3
Gender discrimination and self labeling
Gender discrimination
4 month old infants can discriminate male and female voices, 1 year old infants can discriminate male and female faces
Self Labeling
generally established by age 3 but not future oriented; may fear that cross gendered behavior, activity or toys will change their gender (Szkrybalo and Ruble 1999) or may believe they can grow up to be like the parent of the opposite sex (boys believe they can have babies, etc).
Gender Identity
Age 3-7
gender consistency/conservation
Gender Consistency/conservation:
Understand that gender is fixed and is not changed by activity or behavior preferences, nor by time (gender becomes future oriented); established by age 7
Gender Identity
Age 7-11
awareness of gender typicality or variance & connectedness
Gender Identity
12-adult
Increased saliency
Gender Stereotyping
Age 0-3
early emergence
Gender Stereotyping
Age 3-7
interests, activities & occupations(rigid)
Gender Stereotyping
Age 7-11
personality traits & achievement domains(less rigid)
Gender Stereotyping
12-adult
gender intensification
Gender Intensification
magnification of sex differences that is associated with increased pressure to conform to gender roles
- this is influenced by parents, friendships, romantic pursuits and social pressures
- its intensity lessens by late adolescence but even adults remain very intolerant of males that disregard gender-role prescriptions.
Gender Expression
Age 0-3
toy/activity preferences gender segregation
Gender Expression
Age 3-7
toy/activity preferences & gender segregation ↑
Gender Expression
Age 7-11
toy/activity preference ↑ (boys > girls) segregation persists
Gender Expression
12-adult
conformity ↑gender segregation ↓
Gender Segregation
by age 2 for girls and age 3 for boys, intensifies through latency and by age 5 will actively reject opposite sex playmates; by age 10 those that maintain clear boundaries with same gender play partners are seen as more popular and social competent and those with who play with opposite sex children will likely be rejected and be less popular; segregation thought to stem from incompatible styles of play, boys preference for play group and girls for dyads, concrete thinking and emphasis on negative attributes of the other sex
Sex differences in gender typed behavior
many cultures assign greater status to male gender role, boys face greater pressure to conform to traditional gender role behavior; girls appear to retain cross sex toy interests for longer (thru latency, possible due to understanding the masculine role is highly valued, given more leeway for cross gendered interests, “boy” activities may be more interesting) but most gender conform by adolescents (thought related to feminization of their bodies during puberty, need to attract partners, cognitive growth that results in increased consciousness of body image, other’s opinions of them and increased susceptibility to gender intensification).
Sex Differences
Developmental Vulnerability
Developmental Vulnerability: boys more vulnerable to prenatal and perinatal exposures and experience higher rates of Autism, LD, ADHD, emotional d/o’s, MR
Sex Differences
Verbal
girls show earlier acquisition and development of verbal skills especially comprehension and fluency and test higher in comprehension through adolescence; boys show some advantage in verbal analogies
Sex Differences
Visual/Spatial
boys have a slight advantage, detectable as early as age 4, that persists across the lifespan
Sex Differences
Math
boys have better arithmetic reasoning especially amongst high achievers and problem-solving skills but girls have better computational skills and tend to have better math grades
Sex Differences
Activity
boys more active prior to and after birth, thru childhood and have a preference for rough and tumble play; girls are less likely to initiate or be receptive to R&T play
Sex Differences
Aggression
boys show more physical and verbal aggression as early as age 2 and evidence 10 x as much antisocial and violent crime as girls in adolescence; girls typically express hostility through covert means including snubbing, ignoring or undermining social status or relationships
Sex Differences
Compliance
from preschool girls more likely to comply with requests and demands of authority figures; girls use tact and polite suggestion to encourage compliance in others and boys tend to use demanding or controlling strategies
Sex Differences
Risk taking
boys more likely to take risks in uncertain situations (partially due to higher levels of activity but also determined by parents permissiveness and tendency to enforce rules against risk taking with their daughters rather than sons) which persists thru adolescence and results in experiencing more consequences
Sex Differences
Expressivity
infant emotional displays are equivocal; from toddlerhood onward boys express primarily anger whereas girls have a greater range of emotional expression and verbiage; this is partially influenced by parents tendency to talk with their daughters about emotions and emotional events than their sons.
Sex Differences
Sensitivity
while girls and women tend to describe themselves as more nurturant and empathic; studies suggest that girls and boys react equivocally to other’s distress and show equivocal amounts of concern and affection toward pets and older relatives.
Sex Differences
Fear/Timidity
girls more likely to be fearful, timid, cautions and less assertive in uncertain situations as early as 1 year of age
Sex Differences
Self Esteem
boys show higher global self esteem that becomes more noticeable in adolescences and persists into adulthood
Boy’s Play:
- larger groups
- rougher and more expansive
- streets and public places
- friendships based on mutual interest and activity
- in groups they argue, heckle speakers and call names
- in groups there is more conflict, threats of physical force but without interfering with group continuance
Girls Play
- smaller groups
- play is quieter
- play in private homes or yards
- friendships based on mutuality, sharing with 1 or 2 girls and breakups result in more intense emotional reactions (recall the movie can’t hardly wait, the bathroom scene)
- in groups they are more likely to express agreement, pause to include others, have less conflict and strive to achieve consensus through “conflict mitigating strategies”
Theories
Evolutionary Psychoanalytic Social Learning Cognitive-Developmental Gender Schema Biosocial
Evolutionary
Evolutionary pressure and natural selection
Expressive role of women
Instrumental role of men
Expressive role
a social prescription, usually directed toward females, that one should be cooperative, kind, nurturant, and sensitive to the needs of others
Instrumental role
a social prescription, usually directed toward males, that one should be dominant, independent, assertive, competitive and goal oriented.
Women
biologically need to dedicate more time to procreation (gestation) which required traits to promote raising of children (kindness, gentility, nurturant traits) and to prefer men that would be kind and provide resources to ensure the child’s survival.
Men
biologically dedicate less time to procreation and their survival is best ensured by multiple partners leading to increased competitiveness, assertiveness and aggression which increase their chances of attracting a mate and procuring resources
They cite improved visual spatial skills of men (needed for hunting) as evidence
Psychoanalytic
Gender identity and roles develop during the phallic stage of development (ages 3-6) as children begin to emulate and identify with the same-sex parent.
Social Learning
Direct Tuition
Observational Learning
Direct Tuition
children are encouraged and rewarded for gender appropriate behaviors
- by 20-24 months daughters are consistently reinforced for dancing, dressing up, following parents around, asking for help and playing with dolls and discouraged from manipulating objects, running, jumping, climbing; sons are reprimanded for “feminine” behavior and are encouraged to play with masculine items
- Parents who show the clearest patterns of differential reinforcement have children who are relatively quick to label their own gender, develop strong gender typed toy/activity preferences and acquired an understanding of gender stereotypes
- fathers are more likely than mothers to encourage these divisions
- parental influence wanes after preschool and peer influences increase during latency and adolescence
Observational Learning
adopt the attitudes and behaviors of a variety of same-sex models
- not entirely accurate
- many 3-6 y/o learn about gender behavior patterns by observing models of both sexes
- children whose parents engage in less traditional roles (employed mother, fathers who cook/clean) are less aware of gender stereotypes
- boys with sisters and girls with brothers have fewer gender typed activity preferences
- media also plays a role: children who watch a lot of TV are more likely to prefer gender-typed activities and hold highly stereotypical views of men/women than those that don’t watch much TV
Condry and Condry, 1976 :
- college students watched a video of a 9 m/o child who was introduced as either a girl (“Dana”) or a boy (“David”), and asked to interpret his/her reactions to toys
- impressions of the infant’s behavior depended on his or her presumed sex
- the same reactions were labeled as “anger” when the child was presumed to be a boy and “fear” when presumed to be a girl
Cognitive Developmental
Gender role development depends on cognitive development Basic Gender Identity Gender Stability Gender Consistency (conservation) Self-socialization
Lawrence Kohlberg (1966)
Children first establish a stable gender identity then actively seek out same-sex models and other information to learn how to act like a boy or a girl
Basic Gender ID
by age 3, label self as boy/girl
Gender Stability
stable over time, boys grow up to be men and girls to be women
Gender Consistency
age 6-7; recognize that gender is stable across situations, cross dressing or cross sex activities do not change gender
Correlates
- attainment of gender consistency is associated with other aspects of cognitive development like conservation of mass/liquid
- boys who have greater consistency display more gender-typed play and pay more attention to male characters on TV, and prefer toys that male models prefer
Criticism
- gender typing begins before age 2 (before basic gender ID is established)
- 3 y/o already have learned gender stereotypes and prefer same sex play partners and activities long before consistency is established
- gender stereotypes (if you recall) become more flexible when children reach gender consistency
Gender Schema
Carol Martin and Charles Halverson
Organized sets of beliefs and expectations about males and females that influence the kinds of information attended to, elaborated and remembered
- when formed they serve as scripts for processing social information
- the child is more likely to encode and remember information consistent with their gender schemas and to forget schema inconsistent information or otherwise distort it so that if becomes more consistent with their stereotypes (especially by age 6-7)
“In-group/out-group” Schemas:
Classify objects, behaviors and roles as “for boys” or “for girls”
- 4 and 5 y/o shown gender neutral toys but told they were “for boys” or “for girls” gravitated toward the same sex labeled objects and assumed others of their gender would prefer the toy as well; even highly attractive toys lost their appeal based on these labels if they were cross gender typed
Own-sex Schemas
detailed information they will need to perform various gender-consistent behaviors
- girl will elaborate her knowledge of sewing for example
Biosocial
Money and Ehrhardt (1972)
a series of critical events affect a person’s preference for the masculine or feminine gender role
Biological Influences
- about 50% of the differences in people’s masculine self concepts are accounted for by genotype but only 0-20% of the differences in their feminine self concepts
- Testosterone alters the migration of neurons (between 6th and 12th week of gestation) reorganizing the hypothalamus, preoptic area, corpus callosum, planum temporale, cerebellum, and amygdala affecting emotional, behavioral, and cognitive function across the span of life
- In boys, a nucleus of the preoptic area of the hypothalamus, thought to be involved in sexual orientation and gender identity formation, grows 2 ½ times larger and has twice the number of neurons than in girls
- Right hemisphere development is slower in the male fetus, promoting greater left hemisphere specialization
- androgenized females (from CAH or iatrogenic origins) are more often tomboys with male toy and activity preferences, a preference that persists over time; they dated later, delayed marriage until after career and disproportionate to the general population 37% expressed a homosexual or bisexual orientation; they performed better on visual-spatial tasks; dose-response relationships have been demonstrated between testosterone exposure in utero and gender typed behavior by age 3.5
- Boys exposed to prenatal anti-androgens display lower energy levels, less aggression, and less adolescent heterosexual activity
Social Influences
- androgenized girls mistakenly raised as boys but discovered and corrected prior to age 18 months had few adjustment problems but those identified after age 3 experiences more adjustment problems with reassignment; the first 3 years may represent a “sensitive period”
- Margaret Mead’s study of tribes in New Guinea (ubiquitously masculine, feminine or role reversal)
Psychobiosocial Model
genetics and prenatal exposures influence the organization of the brain in ways that may make boys or girls more receptive to (for example) spatial or verbal activities which in concert with the environments beliefs about what experiences are most appropriate for either gender get more experiences in accordance with this predisposition which fosters further receptivity to these activities; thus the bio and social aspects amplify each other’s effects in an interdependent manner.
Integrative Prenatal
genitalia at birth influence how others react to the child once born
Integrative
0-3 Years
parents label the child, encourage gender-consistent behavior and discourage cross-gendered behavior; consequently these social experiences, the neural developments they encourage and the development of basic classification skills will result in the child acquiring some gender-typed behavioral preferences and basic gender identity
Integrative
3-6 Years
child begin seeking information about sex differences, forms gender schemas and become intrinsically motivated to perform behaviors viewed as appropriate for their gender; they attend to both male and female models early but once gender schemas are well established they will imitate behaviors appropriate for their sex independent of the gender of the model displaying the behavior.
Integrative
7 years-Puberty
gender consistency established; relay less exclusively on gender schemas and to look to the behavior of same sex models
Integrative
Puberty-Adulthood
biological changes in puberty in conjunction with new social expectations (gender intensification) cause teens to reexamine their self-concepts, forming an adult gender identity
Sexual identity development
process of mastering emerging sexual feelings and forming a sense of oneself as a sexual being
Buzwell, Rosenthal and colleagues 1996 (Australian data):
- sexual identity is being studied as a domain of overall adolescent identity development and not just a reflection of behavior (ie orientation)
Three components of sexual identity formation
- sexual self esteem includes feelings about one’s attractiveness to others, perceptions of adequacy of one’s sexual behaviors with a partner and feelings about one’s body
- sexual efficacy involves feelings of confidence in sexual situations, ranging from confidence in being able to refuse sexual activity, to use a condom effectively, to making sexual requests of a partner
- sexual attitudes include arousal, interests in exploring different sexual behaviors, anxiety, and commitment in sexual relationships
Sexual orientation
person’s erotic and emotional preference (in fantasy, arousal, sexual behavior, identity and social role) toward same or opposite sex
Orientation is only one aspect of sexual identity but encompasses a variety of domains:
- attraction (physical, including fantasy)
- desire for relationship (emotional interests/attractions)
- sexual behavior
- choice of label
Sensuality (Pleasure)
awareness and feeling with one’s own body and other people’s bodies, especially that of a sexual partner; enables us to feel good about how our own bodies look and feel and what they can do; sensuality also allows us to enjoy the pleasure our bodies can give us and others; includes physiological functions like arousal (including infantile spontaneous arousals), pleasure like self stimulation; think Piaget (sensory-motor) and Erikson (trust vs mistrust or oral-sensory)
Intimacy (Emotion)
the ability and need to be emotionally close to another human being (ability to love) and accept closeness in return (and be loved). while sensuality is the need to be physically close to another human, intimacy is the need to be emotionally close (parallels with Erikson’s trust vs mistrust)
Sexual Orientation/Identity (Self Awareness and Labeling)
a person’s understanding of who he or she is sexually. Sexual orientation refers to whether a person’s primary attraction is to people of the opposite sex, the same sex or both.
Sexual Health and Reproduction (Medical and Mechanics)
one’s capacity to reproduce and the behaviors and attitudes that make sexual relationships healthy and enjoyable (i.e. information about reproduction, sexual intercourse, different sex acts, contraception, sexual expression and reproductive sexual anatomy).
Sexual Power over Others (Dynamics of Sex)
using sex or sexuality to influence, manipulate or control other people, such as seduction, flirtation, harassment, sexual abuse or rape; includes aspects of consent communication of sexual need and of those issues listed previously
Infant Sexuality
birth to age 4
Infant Tasks
names of body parts
pleasure of touch (sensuality)
trust, closeness and its goodness (intimacy)
Body 101
Naming body parts helps link physical and sensory experiences with cognitive experiences (what is it and what am I supposed to think about it). no age is too young; Boys are more often taught names of their genitals (95% of boys aged 15-26 months vs 52% of girls); girls are often more aware of the names of boys genitals than their own.
Pleasure of Touch
functions to promote attachment and bonding, helps in associating pleasure and touch, correlates with erikson/piaget stages and promotes self awareness thru sensation (i have a body)
What to Expect
Nudity
Oedipus
Nudity
haven’t developed modesty (happens around age 4-8).
Oedipal issues
have more to do with the development of intimacy and attachment in modern consideration than with sexualized arousal or attraction to parents. It is foundational in that intimacy is a fundamental aspect of adult sexual identity.
Latent Sexuality
Ages 4-8
What to Expect
Modesty
Genital Self Stimulation
Sex Play
Modesty
develops between ages 4-6 for girls; ages 5-8 for boys; consider it part of sexual dynamics (how I used my body around others to influence them sexually)
oedipal behaviors/affectations dissipate, they become less comfortable with co-bathing, seeing you in the nude and being seen in the nude
Genital stimulation
(or masturbation for lack of a better way to talk about it) varies and changes in its quality, frequency and purpose with age; consider this continuation of the development of sensuality
Genital stimulation and age
- Infancy: boys may stimulate their genitals with their hand, girls may use their hand or they may stretch, squeeze her vulva using leg muscles, or press against something; we anticipate they experience pleasure but can’t qualify it; not goal directed; not uncommon but not common
- Toddlers: can serve a variety of functions including pleasure or self soothing; toddlers can also talk about it; orgasm and ejaculation don’t happen; self stimulation is rare before age 6
- Latency: the prepubertal child may be less apt to do it in public (modesty) but the intent can include pleasure; orgasm is possible but ejaculation won’t happen for boys till puberty nears
- Adolescence: time where aspects of sexual identity are coalescing of intimacy, sensuality, orientation (mostly); by age 18 most boys and about half of girls have masturbated; unclear why higher rates in males (may be cultural, biological or underreporting); a lot of this data is gathered retrospectively
Sex Play
Studies are limited but suggest about 1/3 of girls and 1/2 of boys before puberty; can also been seen in doll play (its common)
Sometimes it is an isolated event, others it is ongoing (more often for boys) with the same or different play mates
Usually with a friend, sometimes with cousins or a sibling of the same age (its not about attraction or adult sexuality)
Attraction (orientation) is not a factor; it is usually convenience and willingness which is part of the reason that any given child is about as equally likely to engage in sex play with as same as with an opposite gender playmate (not related to adult orientation); this may also be related to gender segregation in pre-pubertal children
Harmlessness hinges of two factors: degree of coercion, reaction of those around them
It is immodest in preschoolers (showing, touching, looking … sometimes in view of adults or peers because of lack of modesty)
In latency it is modest (private and feels a bit more emotionally charged because of taboos around nudity), usually showing, touching, looking and may include some pretend play (doctor, mom-dad); more rarely (but not pathologically) may include laying on top of each other or stimulating the other’s genitals)
Pre-pubertal/pubertal: attraction and orientation are starting to coalesce with the behavior, intimacy as well; there is great meaning behind the action and as such benign sex play (that is sex play divorced from intimacy or orientation) ends
Pre-adolescent Sexuality
Ages 8-12: puberty is coming
Preadolescence
Orgasm
Orientation (physical-emotional attraction)
Intercourse
Orgasm
- often experienced prior to puberty but the nature changes during puberty particularly for boys
Intercourse
- intercourse in preadolescent years is often associated with experiences of abuse but this is not absolute especially in late childhood
Orientation
Same-gender sexual identity, behavior, and attraction are not mental disorders. Same-gender sexual attractions are part of the normal spectrum of sexual orientation. Sexual orientation change in children and adolescents should not be a goal of mental health and behavioral interventions.
Orientation
cont.
Biological factors are thought to predominate
There is little support for any particular contributing environmental factor in determining sexual orientation
Environmental factors are likely to influence the expression of sexual attraction, behavior and orientation labels
Adolescent & Adult Sexuality
Ages 12 and up
Puberty
Marks the onset of physiological and hormonal changes that promote the conflagration of various aspects of sensuality and orientation; these changes can affect psychological functioning of the teen as based on timing of the changes in relation to that of peers and can influence psychological functioning as based on the concordance of natal sex and gender identity.
General Reactions
Response to Change
Males: positive
Females: reactions mixed, cues behavior
Growth/Body Fat:
- in western cultures girls become very concerned about their appearance and others responses
- girls desire to be attractive, desire “feminine ideal of slimness” and can be dissatisfied even at average body weights
- girls body image gets more negative from early to late adolescence and unlike boys very few express satisfaction
- boys welcome weight gains, hope to be tall, hairy, handsome and are preoccupied with aspects of body image that center on physical and athletic prowess
- boys become concerned with weight when too thin and when too overweight
Secondary Sex Characteristics:
Response to Change
Males: desirable
- Girls experience a mixed response to breast development often because of teasing Their responses in part are mediated by the degree to which they were prepared
First Ejaculation/Menarche:
- girls reactions to menarche are mixed and depend on degree to which they were prepared
- girls often react with excitement and confusion
- boys almost never discuss first ejaculation though most feel prepared and generally cite external sources to account for their preparedness
- boys mostly reactive positively but some do react with fear or surprise
What Happened to Them!?
Parental, peer and community reactions to puberty affect the way the adolescent understands the process as a negative, positive or as an embarrassing phase of development.
Parental Reactions
- Puberty for adults implies the need for the adolescent to take on greater responsibilities
- cues parents that the child is becoming a sexual being
- parents rarely acknowledge or accept the adolescent’s transition into sexual behavior
- there is increased conflict around this period
- dating and staying out late are common sources of conflict for mother-daughter dyads
- daughter seeks greater freedom
- mother wants to supervise and restrict to avoid potential sexual situations and worry daughters will be taken advantage of
- some parents will discuss sexual behaviors but seldom sexual orientation
Peer Reactions
- girls frequently discuss their developmental and sexual experience with friends
- boys tend not to share pubertal experiences as their development of intimacy is more often related to shared interests and activities
- peers sometimes react negatively to some pubertal changes
- breast development being a source of teasing, harassment or assault
- boys sometimes grabbing girls in a sexualized manner
- teasing over orientation (50% of male homosexual adults may have experienced verbal or physical assaults)
- teasing over perceived sexual activity (calling someone “slut”)
Community
- cross culturally, this is seen as a pivotal pubertal event often combined with rites of passage
Early Maturation
long term psychological correlations
Males: poise, confidence, athleticism and popularity
Females: poor body image, less popular and outgoing, less popular and outgoing
Early Maturation
cont.
Remember that early maturation typically means they are less prepared especially females
Early maturation advantages in males may be attributable to social recognition, over estimation of competencies due to their appearance which can including granting of privileges and responsibilities normally reserved for older individuals
- parents hold higher educational and achievement expectations for
Late Maturation
long term psychological correlations
Males: eager and anxious, attention seeking, lower academic aspirations and achievement
Females: negative body image
Intimacy in Adolescence
Gender Segregation Ends
Romantic Love
preteen vs teen vs adult
“Going Out” vs Dating vs Coupling
Gender segregation
probably ends related to a lot of factors: onset of puberty, cognitive development, emotional maturation; starts happening in junior high; Mixing usually starts in groups, girls are usually more open to mixing at the beginning; perhaps because they start puberty earlier
Romantic Love
kids at varying ages will reflect on their first experience of romantic love at later and later ages as they grow; likely because their feelings grow progressively more potent/complex as they age
“going out”
are early forays into dating and usually consist of a lot of talk and little action; mostly public and less private interactions; these relationships typically last a few months or less; typical for pre-teens in middle school; older teens more a more coherent sexual identity and interests in intimacy may drive longer term coupling; adults of course have a more complex understanding of their sexual identity and may be better equipped to discuss it
Sexual Morality
Sexual Ethics
Sexual Reasoning
Sexual Consent
Sexual Protection
As cognitive capacities expand
(Piaget’s formal operations) modesty expands to include considerations of safety, responsibility, consent, and choice as aspects of sexual morality.
Sexual ethics reasoning:
philosophy of sex, what you think its for, what is good about it, when it may be prohibited)
Sexual ethics consent:
ins and outs of using sexuality in consensual ways (how to ask, what to ask, when to ask, who to ask; how to accept a no and what constitutes consent or doesn’t); consent includes talking about the person’s intensions, plans in relationships, and sharing your own, as well as being clear about your wishes and limits
Sexual protection
(express concerns about STDs, pregnancy, condoms, how to use contraception properly, risk of oral vs genital sex) talk about this stuff before they are likely to have sex
Behavior
Fantasy
Masturbation
Partnered behavior
Intercourse
Physiology
Arousal:
- testosterone linked to thoughts about sex and sexual arousal by stimuli including music or books in boys
Orgasm:
- often experienced prior to puberty but the nature changes during puberty particularly for boys
- ejaculation
Fantasy
- most common sexual behavior in adolescence
- 72% of 13-18 y/o’s acknowledged having sexual fantasies
- functions of fantasy
- create pleasant sexual arousal
- express sexual needs
- provide insight into sexual desires and preferences
- provide an opportunity to “rehearse” sexual encounters
Masturbation
- allows for exploration in a safe/private way and regarded as normative
- 24% of adolescent females say they masturbate
- in college students 34% of females reported masturbation at age 15
- 33% feel guilty about it
- 46% of adolescent boys masturbate
- in college students 67% of males reported masturbation at age 15
- most say they are trying to stop 20-30% have had intercourse by age 15
Partnered Behavior
- seeking partners for sexual activity and activity involving partners increases in adolescents, this includes dating behaviors, making out and other non-intercourse behaviors
- there are cultural differences but most US adolescents engage in intimate behavior prior to intercourse with a typical progression: necking, petting, genital touching, intercourse
- many teens and college students may not consider, mutual masturbation, oral-genital or anal-genital contact “sex”
- prevalence of same sex behaviors increase over the course of adolescence
- Kinsey reported up to 37% of men and 13% of women had same sex experiences
Intercourse
- 55% of high school males have had intercourse, 9-12th grade
most describe their first sexual encounter as pleasurable - 50% of high school females have had intercourse, 9-12th grade
girls are less likely to describe their first encounter as pleasurable and may express disappointment - 70-80% of all young adults have had intercourse by college
- there are cultural differences in these numbers
- first intercourse most often in the home of the adolescent or their partner
- does not necessarily reflect rates of oral-genital sex, mutual masturbation or other sexual behavior
- earlier pubertal onset relative to peers was associated with greater sexual experience
- testosterone linked to age of initiation of heterosexual intercourse as well as thoughts about sex, masturbation and sexual arousal by stimuli including music or books in boys; the direct effect on behavior appears mediate by arousal
- testosterone linked to nonintercourse sexual behaviors such as masturbation, kissing and petting in girls but not to intercourse
- intercourse in girls more linked to social factors like parental control and peer norms but these influences are also present in males
- better parent-child relationships are associated with postponing intercourse, less frequent intercourse and fewer sexual partners
- hormones likely operate indirectly by stimulating physical maturation and sexual attractiveness
Labels
Heterosexual (Straight) Homosexual (Lesbian/Gay) Bisexual Transgender Queer/Questioning Intersex Asexual Pan-romantic Pan-sexual
Coming Out
Coming out is a unique developmental task for same sex attracted youth.
It is a life long process and most typically begins in late adolescence or early adulthood
More recent data suggest that adolescents are disclosing same sex attraction as early as 13 years of age
