4 Troubled Teens Blog

Sexually active teenagers are three times more likely to get pregnant than sexually active adults, according to a new study from the Guttmacher Institute.

Dr. Lawrence Finer found that unintended pregnancy rates were higher for all age groups under 24 years old.

• Only 27 percent of teenagers 15 to 17 years old are sexually active, but their unintended pregnancy rate is 147 per 1000.
• Among those aged 18 to 19, the unintended pregnancy rate is 162 per 1000,
• Among sexually active adults, the rate of unintended pregnancy is 40 per 1000.

The study appeared in the Journal of Adolescent Health.

Labels: sex, pregnancy

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Younger children who are exposed to adult content on television are more likely to have sex at earlier ages, according to a study presented at the meeting of the Pediatric Academic Societies.

Dr. Hernan Delgado and his colleagues at Children's Hospital in Boston studied 754 12-year-old children, and then followed up when the subjects were 18 years old. The children had kept diaries of the television they watched over two-day periods. Every hour of adult television they watched as 12-year-olds increased by 33 percent their chances of having sex at a young age.

"Television and movies are among the leading sources of information regarding sex and relationships for adolescents," Dr. Delgado explained.

In addition to unplanned pregnancy and sexually transmitted infections, sexual behavior by young people may also indicate problems related to self-esteem, self-image, and teen substance abuse.

Labels: sex, children, teens, television

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A Canadian study of over 70,000 middle and high school students found that gay, lesbian, and bisexual young people were significantly more likely to experience pregnancy. For example, in the year 1998, 7.2% of lesbian and 10.6% of bisexual girls got pregnant compared to only 1.8% of heterosexual girls. Among boys in the same year, 9.6% of gay and 11.6% of bisexual boys got a girlfriend pregnant, compared to 1.5% of heterosexual boys. The study also found that this group of teens experiences sex at a young age - under 14 years old.

Researchers from University of British Columbia studied health surveys from 1992, 1998, and 2003. They speculated that gay and bisexual teens are under pressure to hide their sexual preferences, and pregnancy acts as a camouflage.

This study appeared in the Canadian Journal of Human Sexuality.

Labels: sex, pregnancy, gay

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Two new studies found that teenagers are engaging in increasing levels of sexually experimental behavior, and that girls are catching up to boys in this area.

The first study, which was based on a survey of 1,280 young people, looked at technology and sexual behaviors. One in five teenagers said they have sent or posted nude or semi-nude pictures or videos of themselves, usually to romantic partners. Among survey respondents between the ages of 20 and 26, 33 percent had posted such pictures and 50 percent had received them.

Girls posted or sent more sexual pictures than boys did. The numbers were 22 percent of teen girls compared to 20 percent of teen boys, and 36 percent of young adult women compared to 31 percent of the men. More than half of the teen girls cited "pressure from a male" as a reason to send out sexual pictures of themselves, but only 18 percent of the boys answered that way. The most common reason given to send the pictures was to be "fun and flirtatious."

Three-fourths of the teens were aware that "sending suggestive content can have serious negative consequences."

The study was sponsored by the National Campaign to Prevent Teen and Unwanted Pregnancy and CosmoGirl magazine.

A major new study from the Bradley Hasbro Children's Research found that anal sex among young people is increasing, particularly among teens who do not use condoms.

Within this study, males who in the practice were more likely to be homosexual, bisexual or undecided, whereas the females were more likely to have been coerced into sex, to have two or more partners, and to be living with a sexual partner.

Teen sex expert Judy Kuriansky, a professor at Columbia University, warned that teens engage in anal sex to avoid AIDS or pregnancy; however, the problem is that they can contract AIDS and other health problems in this way.

Commenting on the Hasbro study, Dr. Kuriansky remarked that girls are now experimenting with sexual practices in the same way boys always have.

Labels: sex, risky_behaviors

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Young men who have childhood histories of physical abuse are four and a half times more likely than non-abused boys to use sexually coercive behavior against females. However, the majority of young men with such histories do not exploit girls in this way.

Sexually coercive behavior includes pressuring, persuading, insisting, manipulating, lying, or using physical force to force a partner to have sex when she does not want to.

Professor Erin Casey and her colleagues at the University of Washington studied 5650 men, all of whom participated in three interviews from ages 16 to 22 years old. All participants were heterosexual and had experienced sexual intercourse at least once.

Only 5.6 percent of the participants reported using sexual coercion against a female. However, this group was much more likely to report a childhood history of sexual or physical abuse.

"The higher the frequency of childhood abuse, the more likely a young adult was to engage in sexually coercive behaviors," Dr. Casey said, emphasizing that 55 percent of the men who had been abused did not grow up to use sexually coercive behaviors. She found no link between alcohol problems and sexually coercion.

This study appeared on the ScienceDaily website.

Labels: sex, boys, abuse

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In the wake of the Catholic church's priest-abuse crisis, the Philadelphia archdiocese has released a short film that seeks to educate teens about sexual abuse, and urge them to report sexual violence. In the film, teens are reminded that victims of sexual abuse are never to blame.

"Cardinal Justin Rigali introduced the film to an audience of several hundred people at St. Joseph's University, including selected students. He said afterwards that the goal was to give hope to victims, not to dwell on abusers."

The film will be shown to sophomores, juniors, and seniors at all 21 of the archdiocese's Philadelphia-area high schools. Source: Associated Press

Labels: violence, sex, abuse

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A recent Youth Risk Behavior Survey conducted by State University College in New York found that teens are continuing to engage in risky behavior at about the same rates as they always have.

"In 2007, we still had 72 percent of high schoolers having used alcohol, 37 percent having smoked pot and 39 percent having had sex."

The news is discouraging for some, encouraging for others. There has been a slight decline in overall substance abuse in the past decade; a decline which is credited to the increase in anti-drug campaigns across the country. Source: The Daily Star (NY)

Labels: sex, risky_behaviors, substance_abuse

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It's a title sure to capture the attention of any teen that sees the ad. "Sex... With Mom and Dad" is the name of a new show on MTV feature Dr. Drew Pinsky.

"...the half-hour long show will feature Celebrity Rehab's Dr. Drew, who will discuss certain tips and guidelines when it comes to parent-children dialogue involving teens and topics such as sex, dating and relationships."

The show will also cover specific issues related to sexual promiscuity, homosexuality, and other topics. The show was scheduled to premiere on September 29. Source: BuddyTV

Labels: parental_involvement, sex, communication

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In Lubbock, Texas, some neighborhoods have teen pregnancy rates that are 10 times higher than the national average. A local news station interviewed some local teen dads to get their perspective on what it's like to be a teenaged parent.

"T, like many other dads, balances fatherhood with work - a challenge he says he had no idea was so difficult. 'If you're having a kid right now and you're very young, get ready to stay up, all through the night,' T said. 'It's frustrating but you gotta stick in there, you gotta hang in there. You gotta know that you put yourself in that position, so take care of it,' T added."

Though T, whose full name is Travore, is still with his baby's mother, he's the exception. Eight out of 10 teenage dads don't stick around. All the teen parents interviewed agreed that if they knew then what they know now, they would have done things differently - either using protection when having sex or waiting to have sex until they were older. Source: NewsChannel 11 - Lubbock, TX

Labels: sex, pregnancy, teen_fathers

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Teen pregnancy has gotten increased attention in recent weeks as information has come out about a group of teenage girls in Massachusetts who may have conspired to have babies together. According to Planned Parenthood, about 750,000 American teens will become pregnant this year.

"Regardless of what is happening in [Massachusetts], teen pregnancies are problematic across the United States. Aside from these girls going up against a myriad of stereotypes and discrimination, they'll fight an uphill battle to provide everything from financial stability to emotional maturity for their unexpected family."

Young girls who have babies because "they want someone who'll love them" are in for a rude awakening. Not that children don't love or need their parents, but most parents will tell you that they give much more than they ever receive. It's a reality that many teen parents aren't ready for. Source: Telegraph Herald (Iowa)

Labels: sex, pregnancy, teenage_mothers

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A study conducted by researchers at the Bradley Hasbro Children's Research Center found a connection between self-harm and sexual behavior among teenagers. The report appears in the June issue of the Journal of Developmental and Behavioral Pediatrics.

"...frequent self-cutters - teens who have cut themselves more than three times - used condoms less consistently, were more likely to share cutting instruments, and had less self-restraint. The study is the first to examine whether these teens engage in the same level of risk behaviors as those who've only experimented with cutting once or twice."

The study revealed important distinctions between teens who self-harm more regularly and teens who have only done so once or twice. Researchers hope the new information will help the medical community better identify and treat these two distinct groups of troubled teenagers. Source: Medical News Today

Labels: sex, risky_behaviors, self-harm

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The School-Aged Parents' program is a Canadian program comprised of teenagers who give firsthand accounts of what it's like to be a young parent. The speakers share their experiences in elementary and high schools throughout the Prairie South School Division.

"While using charts and videos to support their point about safe sex, the personal accounts from the Peacock students about their experiences with sex and pregnancy made the largest impact."

One of the teen parents, Toni, was pregnant at 15. She and her boyfriend stayed together for three years, but eventually broke up. It's a common theme among the young mothers - boyfriends who left and now have little or no involvement in their kids' lives. Source: The Moose Jaw Times Herald

Pregnant teens who are engaging in risky behaviors can benefit from adolescent residential treatment programs like the one offered at Youth Care.

Labels: sex, pregnancy, teen_pregnancy

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A popular belief is that teens engage in oral sex so they can "technically" maintain their virginity. However, a new study published in the Journal of Adolescent Health finds that to be untrue.

Dr. Laura Lindberg and her colleagues at the Guttmacher Institute, using a government survey of 2,270 students 15 to 19 years old, found that teens began having both oral and vaginal sex at roughly the same time.

If your daughter is sexually active and enagaing in risky behavior a girls residential treatment program for troubled girls may help. Learn more at Copper Canyon Academy.com.

Labels: sex, teen_issues, virginity

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Recent studies have found that teen pregnancy is at its lowest point in 30 years. Though that's an encouraging statistic, it doesn't tell the whole story.

"Teen moms are the only ones with a visible marker of their sexual activity, said Cynthia Hudson, coordinator of the Knox Adolescent Pregnancy Initiative for the Knox County Health Department. 'But even more teens are becoming sexually active a lot sooner and contracting sexually transmitted diseases,' Hudson said."

For teen moms, life changes radically. The focus of their lives has to shift from themselves and their futures to the lives of their children. College plans often change, and many never attend college at all. Source: Knox News

Labels: sex, pregnancy, statistics

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A few weeks ago, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announced that one in four young women 14 to 19 years old has a sexually transmitted disease (STD). Now, doctors are warning parents that some STDs do not have symptoms and can go undetected.

The most common female STD can cause cervical cancer and genital warts. The warts look like small, flesh-colored bumps or have a cauliflower appearance. Some may grow into large clusters.

Chlamydia, the second most common STD, usually has no symptoms. However, some females will feel a burning sensation during urination and experience abnormal vaginal discharges. If left untreated, girls will develop symptoms of nausea, lower back and lower abdominal pain, fever, pain during intercourse, and bleeding between periods.

Dr. Louis Tesoro of the Princeton HealthCare System recommends that all teenage girls get annual screenings and vaccinations for STDs.

Labels: sex, girls, sexually transmitted_diseases

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Fewer teens are getting pregnant and fewer pregnant teens are having abortions, according to statistics released by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The CDC provided data for the years 1990-2003, showing that teen pregnancies were 15% of the total in 1990, but only 12% in 2003. The percentage of pregnancies ending in abortion also declined, said spokesperson Stephanie Ventura, because more teens are opting to keep their babies.

If your teenage daughter is pregnant and also engaging in risky behaviors, she may benefit from a therapeutic program for pregnant teens like the one offered at an adolescent residential treatment center like Youth Care.

Labels: sex, pregnancy, abstinence

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A first-of-its kind study has found that one in four teenage girls likely has a sexually transmitted disease. The study was conducted by researching a cross-section of medical records for 893 girls nationwide.

"The teens were tested for four infections: human papillomavirus, or HPV, which can cause cervical cancer and affected 18 percent of the girls studied; Chlamydia, which affected 4 percent; trichomoniasis, 2.5 percent; and genital herpes, 2 percent."

Though the data is based on records from 2003-2004, most believe it reflects current prevalence rates among teen girls. Some blame abstinence-only sex education programs that don't teach kids how to protect themselves if they do decide to have sex. Read more at Star-Telegram.com.

Labels: sex, risky_behaviors, sexually transmitted_diseases

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Teens and their mothers overestimate the rate of teen sexual activity, according to a Canadian study.

Over 1100 teens and their mothers participated in the survey, and estimated that by ages 17 to 18 years old, 66% had had sexual experience. The actual figure is 42% for boys and 47% for girls.

"Teens talk about sex. That does not mean that they do it," said lead researcher Dr. Jean-Ives Frappier of Montreal's Sainte Justine University Health Centre.

This study appears in Pediatrics and Child Health.

The Academy at Swift River is a therapeutic boarding school for teens who may benefit from a private boarding school setting. Visit SwiftRiver.com for more information.

Labels: sex, awareness, perceptions

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There was a flurry of activity in the media world a couple of weeks ago when Britney Spears' younger sister Jamie Lynn announced that she was pregnant. At just 16-years-old, Jamie Lynn has become part of a national statistic.

"About 750,000 teens between 15-19 get pregnant each year, and 79 percent of them are unmarried according to a teen pregnancy report by the Guttmacher Institute, a nonprofit sexual and reproductive health research group."

Jamie Lynn has a young fan base of her because of her starring role in the Nickelodeon show "Zoey 101". The concern now is that her pregnancy will make teen motherhood seem "trendy" to her teen and pre-teen fans.

Youth Care, a residential treatment program for troubled teens, offers a program for pregnant girls.

Labels: sex, pregnancy, trends

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The Wilcox Unified School District recently received some shocking news: teen pregnancy rates in the Arizona city are three times the national average. The news comes just as the school district has approved an abstinence program that will begin January 6th.

"'Our goal is to have six sessions, one each week, beginning in late January,' said [Sally] White [director of Wilcox Against Substance Abuse]. They will be in the classroom setting, just as we do our substance abuse and SRO classes.'"

Students must have their parents' permission to attend the classes, with cover such topics as STDs, teen pregnancy, violence in dating and emotional consequences. The school board voted unanimously to approve the program, which will use age-appropriate material and be available for students in 6th  12th grades.

Copper Canyon Academy is a boarding school for troubled girls in Arizona. Learn more about their all girls school at www.coppercanyonacademy.com.

Labels: sex, pregnancy, abstinence

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An assistant professor of nursing at Florida Atlantic University recently completed a study intended to determine how much the media really influences young girls. Josie Weiss interviewed 20 girls ages 14 to 18 who are incarcerated at VisionQuest - an intervention program for at-risk teens.

"The teens had all been sexually active, and many had unplanned and unprotected sex. While they said their parents and teachers encouraged them to make responsible sexual choices, the sexually explicit messages [in the media] were more powerful in shaping their attitudes."

Though Weiss conducted her study with teens that have criminal histories, she's certain the results would be the same among the teen population at large.

Labels: sex, media, promiscuity

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When Paige Harden, a doctoral candidate in psychology at the University of Virginia, read a study last year that said early sex leads to juvenile delinquency, it did not sound right to her.

Using the same data from February 2007's Ohio State University study, she found that teens who have consensual sex in their early teens or even preteen years are actually less likely to engage in delinquent behaviors later on.

Harden went through data from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health, a federal survey of 7,000 children in grades 7 through 12. She took out the data on 534 same-sex twins included in that study because by using twins, she eliminated genetic and socio-economic factors that skew research results.

Twins who had sex at younger ages than their twin brothers or sisters did not mean that have better odds of becoming delinquents. In fact, the odds were actually somewhat lower.

"I wouldn't be focusing on early sex to lower the rates of delinquency," Harden said.

Her study appears in the Journal of Youth and Adolescence.

Labels: sex, delinquents

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When officials at King Middle School in Portland, Maine, announced this week that they would provide free birth control pills and condoms to children as young as eleven years old, many Americans reacted with criticism.

"I think it makes people nervous to think middle school students are having sex," Michael McCarthy, principal of King Middle School, said in defense of the decision. "Frankly, it makes me nervous. But there's a small population out there that needs protection."

According to data from the School of Public Health at Columbia University, only 4 to 5% of children under 12 have had sex. By age 14, that figure is 18 to 29 percent, with more boys being sexually active than girls. However, a 2005 report from the Pacific Institute for Research and Education found that only 8% of children ages 12 to 16 years old reported having sex.

If your middle school aged daughter is heading down the wrong path don't delay in getting her the help she needs. Visit BoardingSchoolsforGirls.com to find an all girls school for her today.

Labels: sex, schools, birth_control

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Young people define virginity and abstinence from drugs and alcohol in more liberal terms than adults, according to a new study in the Journal of Adolescent Health.

In a survey by the Prevention Search Center and the Pacific Institute for Research and Evaluation, researchers interviewed 1100 teenagers of representative age, gender, ethnicity and sexual experience. About one in four believe that a person who engages in anal or vaginal intercourse remains a virgin. A majority believe that abstinence is related to how long you avoid certain behaviors such as sex, drug use or drinking.

The authors concluded that adolescents probably underestimate the dangers of contracting sexually transmitted diseases from oral sex and other behaviors and could benefit from better sex education programs.

Teens can also have liberal views on when teen drug use turns into teenage drug addiction. Learn how you can help at DrugRehabTreatment.com.

Labels: sex, risky_behaviors, virginity

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Yale and Columbia Universities have released a study which shows that teens who take virginity pledges aren't any less likely to catch sexually transmitted diseases than teens that don't make the pledge. The pledging teens may wait longer before having sex, but when they do, they're less likely to use a condom and are more likely to experiment with riskier sexual behavior.

"Virginity pledges emerged in the early 1990s based on the theory that young people would remain chaste if they had stronger community support - or pressure - to remain abstinent. Programs vary, but in most cases teenagers voluntarily sign a pledge or publicly announce their intention to abstain from sex."

Over 60% of the young people who participated in the survey-based study and took virginity pledges reported having sex before they were married. Additionally, just 2% of teens who didn't take virginity pledges said they had had anal or oral sex, as opposed to 13% of those who had taken the pledges. Read more at WashingtonPost.com.

Is your teen engaging in risky behaviors like sex and teen drug use? DrugRehabTreatment.com offers way you can help your teenager before things get worse and why you shouldn't wait to get your child treatment.

Labels: sex, risky_behaviors, abstinence

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One result of the Provisio Leyden Council for Community Action summer program was a short film titled "I Want 2 Live". The film was written, shot, and produced by teens in PLCCA's All Stars mentoring program.

"The film starts out with information on how HIV/AIDS is spread, including through sexual contact, the sharing of needles and blood transfusions. To the sounds of an ambulance siren wailing in the background, teens in the film explain the side effects of the disease for which there is no cure."

The film goes on to tout abstinence as the only "fool-proof" way to avoid infection, but acknowledges that using condoms is also important for those who can't, or don't want to, "resist temptation." Read more at PioneerLocal.com.

Labels: sex, risky_behaviors, AIDS

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A report that compiled statistics from 22 federal agencies shows that teens are not as sexually active as they were just a few years ago. And of those who are having sex, more are using condoms.

"Education campaigns that started years ago are having a significant effect, said James Wagoner, president of Advocates for Youth, a Washington-based nonprofit group that focuses on prevention of teen pregnancy and sexually transmitted diseases."

In 2005, 47 percent of high school students reported having sexual intercourse, down from 54 percent in 1991. The teen birth rate also dropped from 39 per 1,000 to 21 per 1,000  a historic low. Read more at TheGlobeandMail.com.

Residential treatment centers can help teens struggling with a variety issues from drug use to sexual promiscuity. Learn about Island View - a residential treatment center in Utah. Next to Island View is The Aspen Institute of Behavioral Assessment, another residential treatment center which can help diagnosis and asses your child.

Labels: sex, teen_pregnancy, education

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