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Defining virginity and abstinence: adolescents' interpretations of sexual behaviors.

Bersamin MM, Fisher DA, Walker S, Hill DL, Grube JW

Prevention Research Center, Berkeley, California, USA. mbersamin@prev.org <mbersamin@prev.org>

PURPOSE: The current study examined adolescent conceptualizations of virginity and abstinence and whether differences in adolescent definitions of these terms differed by age, gender, ethnicity, and sexual experience. METHODS: A series of logistic regressions were conducted to examine whether gender, age, ethnicity, and sexual experience predicted whether adolescents believed that an individual was still a virgin or abstinent after engaging in genital touching, oral sex, vaginal intercourse, or anal sex. RESULTS: Findings indicated that loss of virginity was linked primarily with vaginal and anal intercourse, while a greater proportion of adolescents attributed a loss of abstinence to other behaviors such as genital touching and oral sex as well. Sexual experience was the strongest predictor of how adolescents defined virginity and abstinence. CONCLUSIONS: Significant differences exist in youths' definitions of abstinence and virginity. This suggests that additional attention is needed to ensure a common understanding of these terms to achieve successful sexual education and prevention programs.

Published 30 July 2007 in J Adolesc Health, 41(2): 182-8.
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