Teens' sex habits linked to self-esteem

Twelve-year-old or 13-year-old girls with low self-esteem were almost twice as likely as their peers to have had intercourse by 15, but preteen boys who had high self-worth had an increased chance of having sex by that age.

"That finding is important, particularly for parents and educators to be looking at and talking to youth about how issues of self-esteem may lead them into having intercourse earlier than they otherwise might," said Alex McKay, research co-ordinator of the Sex Information and Education Council of Canada.


Statscan also found that adolescents who smoked, drank alcohol and had poor relationships with their parents were more likely to have sexual intercourse by 15. And young people who had sex early were more inclined to engage in risky sexual behaviour.

A second Statscan study also made public yesterday found that 59 per cent of girls and 32 per cent of boys who had engaged in sexual intercourse by age 13 reported not using a condom the last time they had sex.

As well, 11 per cent of adolescents who had sex before becoming a teenager reported being diagnosed with a sexually transmitted disease, more than double the rate of those who delayed having sex. They were also more likely to have had two or more partners in the 12 months before the study was done.

The conclusions indicate that more must be done to emphasize condom use, Mr. McKay said.

An estimated 12 per cent of boys and 13 per cent of girls had engaged in sexual intercourse by 14 or 15. Young people in Eastern Canada and Quebec were more likely to report being sexually active than those in Ontario and the West.