Sexual Experimentation in Heterosexual, Bisexual, Lesbian/Gay, and Questioning Adolescents From Ages 11 to 15

Gu Li, J.T.M. Davis

Research output: Contribution to JournalArticleAcademicpeer-review

Abstract

To examine adolescent sexuality development, we analyzed data from a British cohort study (N = 5,070), which assessed the same 12–14 sexual activities at ages 11, 12, 13, and 15, and sexual orientation identity at age 15. The sexual activities ranged from low (e.g., cuddling), moderate (e.g., kissing), to high (e.g., sexual intercourse) intensity. We found that most adolescents having sexual activities of low-to-moderate intensity with same-sex individuals also had them with other-sex individuals, and adolescents having other-sex contacts of low intensity often reported them nonexclusively. Furthermore, other-sex and same-sex sexual activities did not reliably distinguish between sexual orientation identities. Sex differences in these phenomena were absent or small. These findings suggest that many adolescents have low-intensity nonexclusive sexual behaviors.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)423-439
JournalJournal of Research on Adolescence
Volume30
Issue number2
Early online date10 Oct 2019
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 1 Jun 2020

Funding

FundersFunder number
Wellcome Trust102215/2/13/2
Gates Cambridge Trust

    Fingerprint

    Dive into the research topics of 'Sexual Experimentation in Heterosexual, Bisexual, Lesbian/Gay, and Questioning Adolescents From Ages 11 to 15'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

    Cite this