Culture Post: Close-knit Family, Community Key to Teens Delaying Sex

The following is excerpted from an online article posted by HealthDay.

Teenagers who are part of close-knit neighborhoods and families are less likely to have sex at a young age, a new study has found.

On the other hand, teens’ schools have less influence on their sexual behavior, researchers report.

“Our results echo other studies’ findings on the importance of families and neighborhoods in protecting youth from risky behaviors, and show that feeling connected to one’s local community can mitigate sexual risky behaviors,” said lead researcher Dr. Camila Cribb Fabersunne, a pediatrician with the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF).

Teens whose parents restricted their dating were 55% less likely to have sex by 10^th grade, results showed.

So were kids who spend less time alone when home (8% less likely), and who had tight-knit families (7% less likely).

Teenagers from close-knit neighborhoods were 10% less likely to have sex by 10^th grade, results show.

However, no school factors were associated with delaying sex until later in high school, researchers found.

This is the first known study to evaluate how children’s social connections can affect their sexual behavior, Cribb Fabersunne said.

The results, published in the Journal of Adolescent Health, show that school-provided messages and education about sexual behavior have little impact, Cribb Fabersunne said.

Instead, public health officials should focus resources on strategies involving families and neighborhoods, like establishing community-based health centers for youth and supporting parents in conversations with teenagers around sex.

Source: HealthDay
https://www.healthday.com/health-news/child-health/close-knit-family-community-key-to-teens-delaying-sex

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