Many teenage girls feel pressured into sex: study (where would we be without socio-medical research)

Reuters Health ^ | Tue Jun 6, 2006 | Amy Norton

[presidio9]

Teenage girls commonly have sex not because they want to, but because they feel pressured into it - and the result may be a higher risk of sexually transmitted diseases and pregnancy, a new study suggests.

Researchers found that among 279 teenage girls they interviewed, many said they'd given in to unwanted sex at some point because they were afraid their boyfriend would get angry.

The findings, published in the Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine, indicate that may teenagers -- both female and male -- need help in negotiating their relationships.

"We need to give guidance to teens on how to communicate with each other," said lead study author Dr. Margaret J. Blythe, a pediatrician at the Indiana University Medical Center in Indianapolis.

That means helping girls to take more control over their sexual activity, and boys to understand what constitutes pressure, according to Blythe.

The importance of educating boys, she told Reuters Health, "is often the untalked-about part."

The study included girls between the ages of 14 and 17 who were seen at urban health clinics in Indianapolis. Over about two years, the girls were periodically interviewed about their current relationships, including any instances of unwanted sex over the past three months. Specific questions included: "Would he break up with you unless you had sex?" and "Would he get mad if you didn't want to have sex?"

In all, 41 percent said they'd had unwanted sex at some point. The most common reason was fear that their boyfriend would become angry. Ten percent, though, said their partner forced them have sex when they didn't want to. About 5 percent said they'd had sex after being offered money or gifts.

Girls who reported unwanted sex also reported less condom use, a poorer relationship quality and a higher rate of pregnancy than their peers, the study found.

Other research has shown that unwanted sex, particularly in cases of rape, can lead to depression, anxiety and post-traumatic stress disorder. The current findings, Blythe and her colleagues say, point to sexually transmitted diseases and unintended pregnancy as additional serious consequences.

Most of the girls in the study were black and lower-income, and it's not clear how representative the findings are of the general population. But the results are similar to those of some past studies, according to Blythe and her colleagues.

For example, girls who reported unwanted sex were more likely than their peers to have a partner who smoked marijuana, and other studies have linked drug and alcohol use to forced or unwanted sex.

Substance use can blur the line between consensual and non-consensual sex, the researchers write, and boys who use drugs or alcohol may become "less sensitive" to what their partners want or don't want.

[presidio9]

It's official. The cure for cancer, heart disease and the dreaded Bird Flu Pandemic must have been found, because medical researches now have time on their hands for other groundbreaking studies like this one. Expect the announcement later today.

[rhombus]

Teenage girls commonly have sex not because they want to, but because they feel pressured into it

Sounds like good training for mariage. ;-) Sorry, I just couldn't resist.

[edcoil]

"We need to give guidance to teens on how to communicate with each other," said lead study author Dr. Margaret J. Blythe"

Here is a women that does not, by my guess have a teenage daughter. I can tell you from experience, girls this age are communicating too much - it is almost a daily drama out there.

[Gabz]

DUH..............

Tell us something we don't know.....

[HOTTIEBOY]

Are they talking about teenagers in this day and age or teenagers since the dawn of mankind?

[Obadiah]

"Paradise by the Dashboard Light"

[MeanWestTexan]

Maybe they should tell the girls to not order the lobster.

[Slings and Arrows]

Another breathtaking revelation from...

[Arrowhead1952]

The study included girls between the ages of 14 and 17

They had to do a study to find thie conclusion? DUH!!!

[stumpy]

I don't think this is anything very new.

[Steely Tom]

Maybe they should tell the girls to not order the lobster.

Funny!

[Gabz]

"ONly the Good Die Young"

[A message]

Maybe they should tell the girls to not order the lobster.

lol

[MeanWestTexan]

I am here to serve.

[Centurion2000]

Teenage girls commonly have sex not because they want to, but because they feel pressured into it

Men, we all know the cure for this affliction .... wedding cake. ;)

[Clint N. Suhks]

Specific questions included: "Would he break up with you unless you had sex?" and "Would he get mad if you didn't want to have sex?"

Not that I disagree with the conclusions, boys are pigs, but these are pretty leading questions.

[Question_Assumptions]

It's not communication that is the problem. The problem is that with widespread availability of birth control and abortion, the removal of social taboos about premarital sex, and even the expectation that teenagers will have sex has left teenaged girls alone to try to say "no" in the face of a partner that's trying to get them to say "yes". Where a girl used to be able to claim that premarital sex was objectively wrong, warn about what might happen if she got pregnant (a shotgun wedding), talk about concern over her reputation, etc. now she must give a boy a very personal rejection. When the "no" generates the inevitable "Why not?", a girl is left trying to justify her subjective feelings in a way that will almost inevitably be vulnerable to the boy using emotional blackmail and having hurt feelings that are personal. "Why not now?" "Why not me?" "Don't you love me?" Maybe "If you get me pregnant, I won't have an abortion and will finger you for child support," could become the new shotgun wedding that could make boys less pushy about sex, because that's what girls need. Some bad consequence that will force the boys to back off rather than engaging in endless emotional blackmail and negotiation.

[Tribune7]

The importance of educating boys, she told Reuters Health, "is often the untalked-about part."

You mean they are going to start telling boys that girls are different?????!!!!!!!

Golly, what would our educational establishment think of next? That God exist?

[Sonny M]

Your good at making a short story long.

[presidio9]

That just proves the old saying about how teenage daughter's are God's punishment on men for once having been teenaged boys.