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Sexual Experimentation in Heterosexual, Bisexual, Lesbian/Gay, and Questioning Adolescents From Ages 11 to 15
Author(s) -
Li Gu,
Davis Jacqueline T. M.
Publication year - 2020
Publication title -
journal of research on adolescence
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.342
H-Index - 95
eISSN - 1532-7795
pISSN - 1050-8392
DOI - 10.1111/jora.12535
Subject(s) - sexual orientation , lesbian , psychology , human sexuality , sexual identity , developmental psychology , sexual minority , heterosexuality , homosexuality , sexual intercourse , sexual behavior , demography , social psychology , population , gender studies , sociology , psychoanalysis
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.