Sexual Development Flashcards
(44 cards)
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.)
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”
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)
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
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
6
Q
sexual behaviour
A
- masturbation
- sexual activities with a partner
- sexual intercourse
- oral sex
- anal sex
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)
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
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
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
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)
12
Q
influences on sexual behaviour
A
- family
- peers
- religion
- media
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)
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)
15
Q
influences: religion
A
Higher religiosity -> less sexual behaviour
16
Q
media
A
Teens who watch media with more sexual content -> more sexual behaviour
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.
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
antecedents (factors associated with increased teen pregnancy)
- 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
teen parenthood
- 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
teen parenthood: risk factors for children
- Prematurity, LBW
- School problems, delinquency
- Psychological and social problems
- Mothers' perceptions as more difficult
28
teen parenthood: risk factors for mothers
- 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
teen parenthood: risk factors for fathers
- More likely to drop out of school
| - More likely to report mental health difficulties (ie. Anxiety, depression, substance abuse)
30
teen pregnancy: preventative factors to reduce risks
- Return to school
- Live with parents
- Delay subsequent childbearing
- Marriage (but only if stable)
31
teen pregnancy: behaviours targeted by prevention programs
- Delay or prevent teens from having sex
- Reduce frequency of sex
- Increase use/correct use of contraception
32
teen pregnancy: prevention programs
- abstinence only -> ineffective; reduces contraception use
- comprehensive sex-ed programs
- school condom/contraceptive availability -> no change in contraceptive use
- service learning programs
33
comprehensive sex-ed programs
- 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
service learning programs
- 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
teen pregnancy: support
- Social support (ie. Teen mom groups)
- Schooling support (ie. Ability to take time off to breastfeed, etc.)
- Economic support
36
4 aspects of positive sexual development
- accepting your changing body
- accepting your feelings of sexual arousal
- understanding that sexual activity is voluntary
- practicing safe sex
37
sexual socialization
- 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
historical changes in sexual activity
- 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
hormones and sexual activity
- 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
origins of homosexuality
- biological influences (ie. hormones)
| - social influences (ie. family dynamics - cold/rejecting parents)
41
sexual harassment, rape, and abuse during adolescence
- 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
3 reasons why teens don't use contraception
- unplanned sexual activity
- lack of access (ie. unaffordable, or otherwise unable to obtain it)
- insufficient education (unsure when/how to use contraception)
43
ways to improve teen conctraceptive use
- 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
abortion
- 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
