Author Topic: Early Sex Induces Depression  (Read 962 times)

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Early Sex Induces Depression
« on: June 29, 2007, 03:28:55 PM »
Early Sex Induces Depression - In case of short-term relationships
By: Stefan Anitei, Science Editor - Softpedia


We have sex for the sheer pleasure of it, but a new study shows that a sexual life started at the wrong age does in fact induce sadness, clinically known as depression. Girls who have lost their virginity at an early age present a slightly higher risk of feeling depressed compared to their counterparts, as the researchers discovered. Still, the sufferance occurred only when the sexual encounter happened outside a romantic relationship, while the boys' mind was not affected in any way if they started their sexual activity early.

"I suspected that there might be negative effects of early sex for some groups. And that's what I found, but only under very specific circumstances." said co-author Ann M. Meier, an assistant professor of sociology at the University of Minnesota.

These findings have relevance for the abstinence
education promoted by the welfare reform act of 1996, which states that "sexual activity outside of the context of marriage is likely to have harmful psychological and physical effects." The results show a mixed situation, while the average age at which teenagers start their sexual life steadily lowered during the 1990s, now almost 50 % of American teens report that they already had their first sexual experience by the time they graduate from high school.

Meier chose a national representative group of 8,563 adolescents in grades 7 through 12 who were virgin at the selection time. They were questioned again one to two years later about their emotional and mental health, family background, romantic relationships, but the questionnaires also assessed depression and self-esteem. 1,265 of the teenagers had already lost their virginity.

The average age on the first sexual experience depended on race, from 15.2 years in case of black people to 17.5 years for Asians. In case of families with a lower income, this age was even lower. These teenagers were divided into those who had their first sexual experience earlier than the average age, at the average age, and later than average. Only heterosexual sex was considered, and the researchers assessed just depressive symptoms, not clinical depression.

The first sexual experience was linked to a lowered self-esteem only in girls who were younger than the average age and not involved in a romantic relationship. Girls who started their sexual life at the average age or later did not displayed higher risk for depressive symptoms compared to those who were still virgin. An an even higher increase in depressive symptoms was observed in girls who lost virginity in short-term relationships. "It was not so much chronological age that was significant in determining whether sex was psychologically harmful, but rather the deviation from the socially normal age." said Meier.

"I think this is a good study. I'm struck at how much you have to recognize that teen sexual behavior occurs in a social context. One of the big findings here is that it's age norms and not the actual age that matters, and these norms vary depending on what group in society you're in." said Laura Lindberg, a sociologist and senior researcher at the Guttmacher Institute, not involved in the research. "There were well-known negative effects of early sex, such as early pregnancy and sexually transmitted diseases. But overall, there are very few effects on mental health, either negative or positive.", Meier said.

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Re: Early Sex Induces Depression
« Reply #1 on: November 20, 2010, 08:39:44 PM »
We have sex for the sheer pleasure of it, but a new study shows that a sexual life started at the wrong age does in fact induce sadness, clinically known as depression. Girls who have lost their virginity at an early age present a slightly higher risk of feeling depressed compared to their counterparts, as the researchers discovered. Still, the sufferance occurred only when the sexual encounter happened outside a romantic relationship, while the boys' mind was not affected in any way if they started their sexual activity early.

Hmm. Pero kon sobra pud ka-late or not at all, naa pud tingali resultang diperensya...  ::)

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