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Sexuality During Childhood and
Adolescence
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Why is there limited research on
childhood sexuality?
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True or False
• Most young children who masturbate are
sexually abused?
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Sexual Behavior During Infancy
and Childhood
• Infant sexuality
– Capacity for sexual response present at birth
– Sexual behavior is a normal part of development
• Infants engage in self-pleasuring activity
– Unable to differentiate sexual from sensual
pleasure
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Why is it important to talk to your child
when they are masturbating?
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Sexual Behavior During Infancy
and Childhood (cont’d.)
• Childhood sexuality
– Limited research
– Common behaviors at varying ages
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Two-three years: masturbation begins
Four-seven years: sex play begins
Five-seven years: marriage script enactment begins
Eight-nine years: girls and boys play separately
Ten-eleven years: interest in bodily changes
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Hormones and Sexual Behavior
Puberty: Onset, eight to 14 years old; two years
earlier in girls
 Testosterone: main male sex hormone
 Estrogens: main female sex hormones
 Sex hormones are important at several stages:
 During prenatal period, they direct development as males or
females
 During puberty, a surge in sex hormones ushers us into
adolescence
 As adults, sex hormones help activate sexual behavior
Physical Changes in Adolescence
(cont’d.)
• Primary sex characteristics of girls
– Thicker vaginal walls and larger uterus
– Vaginal secretions
– Menarche: average age 12 or 13
• Primary sex characteristics of boys
– Larger prostate and seminal vesicles
– First ejaculation around 13
• Physical changes can be sources of pride or
concern
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Sexual Behavior During Adolescence
• The sexual double standard
– Different standards of sexual permissiveness for
women and men
• More restrictive standards applied to women
– Girls sexuality focus: relationship
• Dilemma to appear sexy but not “easy”
– Boys sexuality focus: conquest
• Peers reinforce aggressive and independent behaviors
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Masturbation
• Increase in frequency during adolescence
– More common than partnered sexual activity
• Can serve as an important avenue for sexual
expression
– An always available outlet
– A way to learn about one’s body and increase selfknowledge
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Non-Coital Sexual Expression
• Kissing, holding, touching, manual, and oral
stimulation of genitals
– Oral-genital stimulation has increased among
teenagers
• Many consider oral sex more acceptable – a way to
experience sexual intimacy and maintain virginity
• Most are unaware of potential risks associated with
oral sex
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What are the implications of using the
term virginity to mean not engaging in
coitus?
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Ongoing Sexual Relationships
• More common at this age than in past
– Contemporary adolescents are most likely to be
sexually intimate with someone they love or to
whom they feel emotionally attached
• Narrowing gender gap
– Girls less likely to “save themselves” for marriage
– Boys more likely to want an affectionate
relationship
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Adolescent Sexting
• Sending sexually suggestive photos or text
messages via the Internet, cell phones, or
other electronic devices
– Increasing among adolescents
– Some states have sought to define sexting as a
criminal offense
– Sometimes involves images or messages sent
between an adult and a minor
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Sexual Intercourse
• Premarital sex
– Penile–vaginal intercourse that takes place before
marriage
• Adolescent coitus
– Upward trend has leveled off and somewhat
decreased
– Age of first coitus has also decreased
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Sexual Intercourse (cont’d.)
• Reasons for engaging in adolescence coitus
– Acceleration of sex hormones
– Increased desire and arousability
– Curiosity and sense of readiness
– Affection for partner
– Push to adult behavior
– Peer and date pressure
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Sexual Intercourse (cont’d.)
• Early coitus: predisposing factors
– Poverty or family conflict
– Parental lack of education, supervision, or
substance abuse
• Late coitus: predisposing factors
– Strong religious beliefs
– Good school performance
– Higher socioeconomic status
– High quality parent-child relationship and
communication
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Homosexuality
• Experimental or transitory same-sex sexual
contact between peers is common
– Some individuals begin to self-identify as lesbian,
gay, and bisexual in teen years
• Often encounter negative societal reactions
• Process of reconciling their sexuality with the
expectations can be a difficult
• Many lesbian and gay adolescents are unable to talk
openly with their parents
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The Effect of AIDS on Teenage Sexual
Behavior
• “Personal fable”
– Most teens do not think they are at risk
• Adolescent belief in invulnerability
– Condoms viewed more as birth control than as
protection from sexually transmitted diseases
(STIs)
• Inconvenient
• Some believe they are already adequately protected
from an unwanted pregnancy
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Adolescent Pregnancy
• Adolescent birthrates in the U.S. have
declined
– Still an alarmingly high rate
• Negative consequences of teenage pregnancy
– More likely to have physical complications
– Higher prenatal and infant mortality rates
– Especially high risk for STIs
– Impact on finances and education
– Lower parenting quality
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Adolescent Pregnancy (cont’d.)
• Use of contraceptives
– Inconsistency and/or incorrect usage
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Lack of adequate knowledge
Misconceptions about contraceptive risks
Confidentiality concerns
Fear of pelvic exam
Embarrassment
Infrequent intercourse
Difficulty communicating with partner
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What are some strategies to reduce
teenage pregnancy?
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Adolescent Pregnancy (cont’d.)
• Strategies to reduce teen pregnancy
– Free, confidential contraceptive services
– Compulsory national sex education curriculum
– Focus on shared responsibility for birth control
– Readily available condoms in middle schools and
high schools
– Increased adolescent–parent communication
about sex
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Sex Education
• Answering children’s questions about sex
– Start early, ongoing discussion
– Share true feelings
– Ask open-ended questions
• Initiating conversations when children do not
ask questions
– Child may not consider some aspects until they
experiences them (e.g., menstruation)
Copyright © 2017 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved.