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Psych 319 > Sexual Development > Flashcards

Sexual Development Flashcards

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1
Q

goals and difficulties of studying sexual development

A
  • Goals:
    • Learn what is normative/common
    • Reduce negative outcomes (ie. STIs, teen pregnancy, etc.)
    • Promote positive outcomes (ie. Self-esteem, make sexuality more positive aspect of adolescence)
  • Difficulties:
    • Ethical/moral considerations (ie. Is it okay to ask teens about their sexual desires?)
    • Defining “sexual behaviours” (across cultures, contexts, etc.)
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2
Q

Adolescence

A
  • Begins at puberty (stage of development when body becomes capable of reproduction)
    • Usually begins around 11-13, ends around ages 16-18
    • Changes in hormones
    • Changes in body (secondary sex characteristics)
    • changes in cognition (better ability to understand sexual feelings)
  • Sexual development occurs in this phase of life due to both physical and cognitive changes
  • Ends at “adulthood”
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3
Q

3 aspects of sexual development

A
  • Sexual desires (ie. Attractions, interests)
  • Sexual motives (ie. How you move from sexual desire to sexual behaviour -> what’s motivating you)
  • Sexual behaviours (ie. The physical behaviours themselves)
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4
Q

sexual desire

A
  • Typically arises in pre-adolescence, but increases significantly with puberty
  • Sex/gender differences occur
    • Ex. Males more likely to report feeling sexual arousal earlier on in life & experience more sexual arousal
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5
Q

sexual motives

A
  • Many different reasons/motives exist:
  • Physical reasons (ie. feels good)
  • Goal attainment (ie. getting social status, getting a relationship, revenge)
  • Emotional expression (ie. Expressing love for someone else) -> most common reason
  • Insecurity (ie. Boosting self-esteem)
  • Curiosity & experimentation -> more specific to teens than adults; one of the most common reasons
  • Emotion regulation (using sexual behaviour to distract yourself from other negative events) -> more specific to teens than adults
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6
Q

sexual behaviour

A
  • masturbation
  • sexual activities with a partner
  • sexual intercourse
  • oral sex
  • anal sex
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7
Q

masturbation

A
  • “autoerotic behaviour” (includes fantasies)
  • Common in adolescence -> estimates vary between ~25-80%; reported more often by boys
  • Difficult to measure -> teens usually lie about it (inaccurate self-report)
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8
Q

sexual activities with a parner

A
  • Developmental progression of partnered sexual behaviour typically goes from less intimate to more intimate
  • Ex. Holding hands -> kissing -> touching over then under clothes -> sex
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9
Q

sexual intercourse

A
  • Rates vary: ~25-60% of teens report having engaged in it
    • A lot of issues with accuracy of self-report
    • Differences according to ethnic group, especially for males (ie. Highest amongst African-American teens; lowest amongst Asian-American teens)
  • Mean/median age of first intercourse: ~16 for boys, ~17 for girls
  • Rates vary depending on time of year (spike in summer; spike in December for romantic relationships only)
  • Experience of first times vary -> girls more likely to report negative physical and emotional sensations
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10
Q

oral sex

A
  • In most studies, more common than intercourse
  • Why?
    • Perceived by teens as less risky, less of a threat to their beliefs
    • Also perceived as less of a choice for teens in relationships -> expected behaviour
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11
Q

anal sex

A
  • Not measured by most studies
  • ~4-20% of adolescents report having engaged in it
  • In males, related to sexual orientation
  • In females, related to power imbalance in sexual relationship (male partner has more power)
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12
Q

influences on sexual behaviour

A
  • family
  • peers
  • religion
  • media
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13
Q

influences: family

A
  • Parental monitoring (more monitoring -> less sexual behaviour)
  • Closeness with parents (more closeness with both mom and/or dad -> less sexual behaviour)
  • Discussions about sexuality (more openness -> lower rates of risky sex); attitudes conveyed through discussions matter
  • Household composition (divorced or single parents -> higher sexual behaviour; having older siblings (especially older sister who is teen parent) who have had sex -> higher sexual behaviour)
  • Authoritative families -> less likely to have early/risky sex (vice versa for parent-adolescent conflict)
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14
Q

influences: peers

A

Pressure to conform (higher rates when you believe most of your peers are having sex, even if it’s not true)

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15
Q

influences: religion

A

Higher religiosity -> less sexual behaviour

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16
Q

media

A

Teens who watch media with more sexual content -> more sexual behaviour

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17
Q

effects of sexual behaviour

A
  • Engaging in sexual behaviour during adolescence is not related to any psychological issues
  • But very early sexual activity (before age 16) and risky sexual activity (ie. Unprotected sex, sex with multiple partners) may be associated with negative outcomes
    • Outcomes: poorer school engagement, higher drug/alcohol abuse, criminal activity, etc.
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18
Q

sexual orientation

A
  • The extent to which someone is oriented towards sexual activity with members of their own sex, the opposite sex, or both, or neither
    • May or may not align with sexual orientation identity (the label you identify with) and/or sexual behaviours
  • Not the same as:
    • Sex-role behaviour (the extent to which someone acts in traditionally masculine or feminine ways)
    • Gender identities (the gender someone identifies as)
19
Q

same-sex desires and motives

A
  • Not uncommon for adolescents to experience attraction to members of the same sex (6% of boys, 13% of girls)
  • Different motivations:
    • Some teens engage in same-sex sexual behaviour because it’s part of their sexual orientation or identity, whereas others do it for experimentation/curiosity
  • – Majority of teens who engage in same-sex sexual behaviour don’t identify as gay, lesbian, or bisexual
20
Q

same-sex sexual behaviour

A
  • Among youth who identify as gay/lesbian/bisexual:
    • First sexual activity happens slightly earlier than rest of population (14-18 for females, 13-15 for males)
  • Opposite/other-sex sexual activity is also common (ie. 80% of lesbians report having had sexual activity with men during their youth)
  • More likely to engage in risky sexual behaviour
21
Q

outcomes & protective factors for gay, lesbian, and bisexual teens

A
  • Increased risk of negative outcomes (ie. Fighting, suicide attempts, drug/alcohol use, sexual assault, threatened with weapons)
  • Why?
    • Lack of support system
    • Bullying/harassment
    • Protective factors:
    • Supportive families
    • Supportive friends
    • Caring adults (teachers/coaches)
    • Connectedness to school; interest in school
    • Involvement in LGBT communities
    • Maybe spirituality, but typically not religiosity
22
Q

identity development/”coming out”: historically hypothesized process

A
  • First awareness of same-sex attraction
  • Period of testing and exploration (can be cognitive – ie. Doing research, and/or physical)
  • Adopting a label (gay, lesbian, bisexual, queer, etc.)
  • Disclosing sexual identity to others (usually ~16-19, usually to a friend or partner first, usually to mom before dad)
  • Becoming involved in a same-sex romantic relationship
  • Celebrating one’s sexual identity within a larger social context
23
Q

identity development/”coming out”: different trajectories

A
  • “Sex First” group: engaging in same-sex sexual behaviour prior to identifying with a label
  • “Label First” group: identifying with a label before engaging in same-sex sexual behaviour
24
Q

teen pregnancy

A
  • In Canada today, about 3% of births are to teen mothers
  • Why does it occur?
    • Lack of contraceptive use or incorrect contraceptive use
    • In few cases, desire for child
25
Q

antecedents (factors associated with increased teen pregnancy)

A
  • Family factors (ie. Low SES, single or divorced parents, positive attitudes about teen pregnancy, etc.)
  • Community factors (ie. Low SES cities)
  • Peer factors (ie. Positive attitudes about teen pregnancy and negative attitudes school)
  • Partner factors (ie. Unsupportive of contraceptive use, girls with older partners)
  • Characteristics of teens (ie. More common amongst black & Latino teens compared to white & Asian teens; increased drug/alcohol use; sexual abuse; less knowledge of contraceptives)
26
Q

teen parenthood

A
  • About 50% of teen pregnancies actually result in teen parenthood (other half are either aborted or spontaneously miscarried)
  • has risk factors for children, mothers, and fathers
27
Q

teen parenthood: risk factors for children

A
  • Prematurity, LBW
  • School problems, delinquency
  • Psychological and social problems
  • Mothers’ perceptions as more difficult
28
Q

teen parenthood: risk factors for mothers

A
  • Depression, substance abuse,
  • Disruption in schooling & career (the more school disruption you have, the worse the outcomes are later); poor scholastic achievement is both a cause and consequence of early childbearing
  • Economic difficulties (poverty is both a cause and consequence of early childbearing)
29
Q

teen parenthood: risk factors for fathers

A
  • More likely to drop out of school

- More likely to report mental health difficulties (ie. Anxiety, depression, substance abuse)

30
Q

teen pregnancy: preventative factors to reduce risks

A
  • Return to school
  • Live with parents
  • Delay subsequent childbearing
  • Marriage (but only if stable)
31
Q

teen pregnancy: behaviours targeted by prevention programs

A
  • Delay or prevent teens from having sex
  • Reduce frequency of sex
  • Increase use/correct use of contraception
32
Q

teen pregnancy: prevention programs

A
  • abstinence only -> ineffective; reduces contraception use
  • comprehensive sex-ed programs
  • school condom/contraceptive availability -> no change in contraceptive use
  • service learning programs
33
Q

comprehensive sex-ed programs

A
  • May also include more emotional/interpersonal aspects of sex in addition to its physical factors
  • Most effective programs have clear message and are long-lasting (ie. persist on a regular basis over months of years)
34
Q

service learning programs

A
  • Not focusing solely on sexual behaviour, but focusing on things that are correlated with it -> ie. increasing self-esteem
    • Ex. Teen Outreach Program -> teens meet up 1x/week and do community service project, talk about goals, etc.; 15% of program is about sex
  • Drastically reduces risk of teen pregnancy
    • Why? Increases connections between peers & schools, gives teens autonomy
35
Q

teen pregnancy: support

A
  • Social support (ie. Teen mom groups)
  • Schooling support (ie. Ability to take time off to breastfeed, etc.)
  • Economic support
36
Q

4 aspects of positive sexual development

A
  • accepting your changing body
  • accepting your feelings of sexual arousal
  • understanding that sexual activity is voluntary
  • practicing safe sex
37
Q

sexual socialization

A
  • the process of educating children about sexuality; varies by culture
    • restrictive societies: adolescent sexuality discouraged; pressured to wait until adulthood/marriage
    • semi-restrictive societies: adolescent sexuality frowned upon (esp. teen pregnancy); but not always formally prohibited (North America)
    • permissive societies: sexual activity during childhood and adolescence not restrained
38
Q

historical changes in sexual activity

A
  • most teenagers believe it’s acceptable to have sex before marriage as long as it’s in a loving relationship
  • sex is part of the typical adolescent experience
  • 1/3 of American 14-year-olds and 2/3 of 18-year-olds have had sex
  • proportion of teens who have sex before high school is rising
  • greatest decline at age of first intercourse is in females
  • today, less teens are having sex, but they’re having it earlier
39
Q

hormones and sexual activity

A
  • sexual interest influenced by surge in testosterone
  • in boys, higher androgens (like testosterone) = higher likelihood of being sexually active -> increase sex drive and change physical appearance to make them (typically) more attractive to girls
  • in girls, estrogen predicts sexual activity -> changes physical appearance and makes them more attractive to boys
40
Q

origins of homosexuality

A
  • biological influences (ie. hormones)

- social influences (ie. family dynamics - cold/rejecting parents)

41
Q

sexual harassment, rape, and abuse during adolescence

A
  • sexual harassment: more likely to occur at school than online, majority of teenagers report it
  • rape/date rape: more likely to occur when there is a large age difference between girl and male partner
  • includes sexual abuse: victims are disproportionately female and poor (but may be because they’re most likely to report) -> leads to many negative outcomes like anxiety, depression, risky behaviour, etc.
42
Q

3 reasons why teens don’t use contraception

A
  • unplanned sexual activity
  • lack of access (ie. unaffordable, or otherwise unable to obtain it)
  • insufficient education (unsure when/how to use contraception)
43
Q

ways to improve teen conctraceptive use

A
  • make contraceptives accessible to adolescence
  • have parents/schools provide sex ed early on, including educating about contraceptive use before teens become sexually active
  • parents should be more open about sex communication
44
Q

abortion

A
  • more likely to be chosen by young women who are academically successful and ambitious, who come from middle- or upper-class families, and have educated parents -> perceive themselves as having more to lose by having the baby
  • women who choose to have abortions not psychologically harmed long-term -> actually better off than comparable women who give birth to child
  • post-abortion, they’re more likely to use contraceptives

Psych 319 (15 decks)

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