Teenage sexual behaviour: attitudes towards and declared sexual activity

Although the teenage pregnancy rates in the UK are falling in the 16 to 19 year old range, they are still rising in the 13 to 15 year olds. Overall, t hey remain one of the highest within Western Europe. Teenagers continue to present a challenge to the health services due to the increase in their sex ual risk caking behaviour the earlier age at which they are starting sexual activity and a reluctance to utilise services available to them. In an att empt to develop current services and make them more 'user friendly', a sexu al health needs assessment was carried out on teenagers, part of which look ed at their attitudes towards risk taking sexual behaviour and their declar ed sexual behaviour. A quantitative survey, using a questionnaire in school s, was answered by 1500 pupils aged between 13 and 18 years old, and showed that the majority of teenagers had declared some form of sexual contact wi th a partner with a degree of sexual activity increasing with age. Twenty p er cent of 13 year olds reported that they had already had either full or o ral sexual intercourse with a partner Feeling peer pressure, not knowing th e facts about sexual risk taking and a declared intent that would increase the likelihood of putting themselves or others at risk sexually were signif icantly more likely in the younger teenage boys surveyed. This study confirms that there remain many different factors involved in te enagers' decision-making processes, about their developing attitudes toward s sex and their resultant behaviour Despite a lack of maturity, such opinio ns and attitudes are bringing about definite views and sexual behaviour pat terns in teenagers as young as 12 or 13 years old who are becoming fully se xually active. In particular teenage boys are becoming fully sexually activ e at a younger age than the girls and are taking risks in doing so. They ar e being influenced by peer pressure, condoning promiscuity and are declarin g the intent to practice unsafe sexual intercourse. Their level of maturity would appear to be inadequate for them to comprehend the implications and consequences of their actions. This study has shown a need for developing a dequate education and provision of sexual health services for teenagers, pa rticularly for teenage bays, and that this may go some way in helping to ad dress the imbalances found.