Survey of teen-agers links substance abuse and sex by Anjetta McQueen
Source: The Associated Press
Washington - Teen-agers who drink or use drugs are much more likely than others to be sexually active, starting sexual intercourse as early as middle school and with a greater likelihood of multiple partners, a research group said yesterday.
With condom use among teens being erratic at best, there is a fear that the combination of substance abuse and sex could increase the 12 million new annual cases of sexually transmitted disease.
"In America, drinking and drug abuse are bundled with high-risk sex," said Susan Foster, who directed the report, Dangerous Liaisons: Substance Abuse and Sex, for the Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse at Columbia University. "Yet despite the high coincidence of substance abuse and sexual activity, remarkably few public or private prevention, treatment and counseling programs deal with this connection."
In its report, gleaned from a variety of data on 34,000 teen-agers in seventh through 12th grades, the research center admits it's not sure what comes first - the drinking and drug-taking or the promiscuity. In its analysis, the group factored out other reasons, such as socio-economic status or race, that are associated with either drinking or having sex but not necessarily both and could have made the connection look weaker or stronger than it actually is.
Findings From the Study
| Findings from the study by the Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse at Colombia University:
Overall, 63 percent of young people who use alcohol have had sex, compared with 26 percent of those who don't drink. About 72 percent of youths who use drugs have had sex, compared with 36 percent who don't use drugs. The center adjusted the percentages to factor out other reasons, such as socioeconomic status or race, that are associated with either drinking or having sex but not necessarily both and could have made the connection look stronger than it actually is.
Children in seventh, eighth and ninth grades who reported drinking alcohol outside of the presence of a parent or adult family member are twice as likely to have had sexual intercourse any time in their teen years than those who report not drinking.
Children in seventh, eighth and ninth grades who reported using any illegal or illicit drugs are four times likelier to have sex than those who reported not taking drugs.
Teens in 10th, 11th, and 12th grades who said they drank are seven times likelier to have sexual intercourse than nondrinking teens and twice as likely to have it with four or more partners than nondrinking teens who have had sex.
Teens in 10th, 11th and 12th grades who said they use drugs are five times likelier to have sexual intercourse than those who don't use drugs and three times likelier to have it with four or more partners than teens who don't use drugs but have had sex. |
But the report suggests there could be some lessons from adults: Adult heavy drinkers - defined as about seven drinks a day over two weeks - are five times more likely than those who don't drink at all to have at least ten sexual partners a year.
The report said drug-using teens are five times as likely to have sex than nonusers, and three times as likely to have it with four or more partners than those nonusers who have had sex, according to the two-year analysis of data.
A generation ago, the report said, fewer teens were having sex. In 1970, 5 percent of 15-year-old girls had sex; in 1972, 20 percent of 15-year-old boys said they had sex. In 1997, 45 percent of boys and 38 percent of girls said they have had intercourse in their teen years.
Joseph A. Califano Jr., the research center's chairman and a secretary of Health, Education and Welfare under President Jimmy Carter, said the report shows that parents must realize that today's teens more than ever are forced to make decisions about drinking, illegal drugs and sex as early as middle school.
Califano said school counselors, parents, clergy, and other adults should address whichever teen activity - sex or substance use - that first comes to their attention.
"Adults should be prepared to work with the teens on both matters," he said.
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