These factors are advanced puberty development, low self-esteem, attention deficit disorder, parents with little education, and watching more than three hours of television per day. Each factor increased the likelihood of early sex by 44%.
"It isn't any one thing, it's cumulative," said Dr. Janet Hyde, a psychologist and lead author of the study. She and her colleagues believe that children who watch excessive television probably lack parental supervision. Lack of supervision is linked to early sexual experimentation, not watching television per se.She and her colleagues studied 273 children at ages 13 and then age 15. Only one in ten boys in the study lost their virginity by age 15; among girls, the percent was slightly less.
This study was presented at the Society for the Scientific Study of Sexuality.
Labels: sex, self-esteem, puberty
Posted By: Aspen Education Group