Looking back: The experience of first sexual intercourse and current sexual adjustment in young heterosexual adults
Looking back: The experience of first sexual intercourse and current sexual adjustment in young heterosexual adults
A young person's first consensual sexual intercourse experience is often a remarkable and memorable experience. However, little systematic information exists regarding contextual factors of first intercourse, the affective salience of the experience, possible effects on sexual attitudes and beliefs, and subsequent sexual development and adjustment. This retrospective study aimed to examine these in a sample of 475 young adults. Overall, young men and women experienced intercourse for the first time around age 17, were in a committed relationship, and reported positive affective responses. Affective reactions to the first sexual intercourse experience, sexual self-efficacy, sexual aversion, and age at first intercourse affected individuals' current sexual adjustment; however, only sexual self-efficacy mediated between first intercourse and current sexual adjustment in young men and women. Older age at first intercourse was associated with less sexual self-efficacy and lower current sexual adjustment for women. This study provides initial data to suggest that the first sexual intercourse experience significantly impacts current sexual adjustment by affecting beliefs about sexual self-efficacy.
27-35
Reissing, Elke D.
d6c69d14-9820-4280-be76-97e74bc16f2d
Andruff, Heather L.
3dc9c223-1a61-47ad-ab0b-50d06cddf4f2
Wentland, Jocelyn J.
b36b4679-389d-4b24-9051-869da2c1ccd7
1 January 2012
Reissing, Elke D.
d6c69d14-9820-4280-be76-97e74bc16f2d
Andruff, Heather L.
3dc9c223-1a61-47ad-ab0b-50d06cddf4f2
Wentland, Jocelyn J.
b36b4679-389d-4b24-9051-869da2c1ccd7
Reissing, Elke D., Andruff, Heather L. and Wentland, Jocelyn J.
(2012)
Looking back: The experience of first sexual intercourse and current sexual adjustment in young heterosexual adults.
Journal of Sex Research, 49 (1), .
(doi:10.1080/00224499.2010.538951).
Abstract
A young person's first consensual sexual intercourse experience is often a remarkable and memorable experience. However, little systematic information exists regarding contextual factors of first intercourse, the affective salience of the experience, possible effects on sexual attitudes and beliefs, and subsequent sexual development and adjustment. This retrospective study aimed to examine these in a sample of 475 young adults. Overall, young men and women experienced intercourse for the first time around age 17, were in a committed relationship, and reported positive affective responses. Affective reactions to the first sexual intercourse experience, sexual self-efficacy, sexual aversion, and age at first intercourse affected individuals' current sexual adjustment; however, only sexual self-efficacy mediated between first intercourse and current sexual adjustment in young men and women. Older age at first intercourse was associated with less sexual self-efficacy and lower current sexual adjustment for women. This study provides initial data to suggest that the first sexual intercourse experience significantly impacts current sexual adjustment by affecting beliefs about sexual self-efficacy.
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e-pub ahead of print date: 15 December 2010
Published date: 1 January 2012
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Local EPrints ID: 429945
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/429945
ISSN: 0022-4499
PURE UUID: b96f5d94-4712-4e50-bd76-18150159db0c
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Date deposited: 09 Apr 2019 16:30
Last modified: 16 Mar 2024 04:40
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Author:
Elke D. Reissing
Author:
Jocelyn J. Wentland
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