(chap 6) ADOLESCENT SEXUALITY

Psychosocial Development in Adolescence

Sexual identity

• Seeing oneself as a sexed being.

• Recognising one's sexual orientation.

• Accept sexual changes.

• Establish romantic or sexual links.

• It originates in biological factors, but its expression is marked by culture

GENDER STEREOTYPES

Widespread preconceptions about traits that are considered characteristic of male or female behaviour

Sexual orientation

Pressing issue in adolescence:

Refers to the sex of those to whom we are physically, emotionally or romantically attracted

• Heterosexual

• Homosexual

• Bisexual

• Asexual

Heterosexual

The person is consistently sexually attracted to people of the opposite sex.

Homosexual

The person is consistently sexually attracted to people of the same sex.

Bisexual

The person is consistently sexually attracted to people of both sexes.

Asexual

Person who does not experience any romantic or sexual attraction.

Isolated homosexual experiences

Feelings of attraction or occasional fantasies do not determine sexual orientation.

Why is it difficult to estimate the prevalence of homosexuality and bisexuality in adolescence

Because of the associated social stigma.

Heterosexuality predominates

In almost all known cultures, while homosexuality varies.

Origins of sexual orientation

The complex sum of different factors: genetics, environment, life experiences

Twin study related to sexual orientation

• non-shared environmental factors explained about 64% of individual differences in sexual orientation.

• Genes explained 34% of the variation in males and 16% in females.

• Shared family influences explained 16% of the variance in women but did not affect men.

Imaging studies structure of hemispheres

Show that the brains of gay men and straight women are similar in structure, while lesbian women and straight men tend to have a slightly larger right side of the brain

Imaging studies structure of amygdala

Homosexuals:

• Typical opposite-sex amygdala connections.

Imaging studies structure of hypothalamus

• Differences in the size of the hypothalamus between gay and heterosexual men.

• Activation of the hypothalamus: Increased attraction to male pheromones in gays and female pheromones in lesbians.

Sexual behaviour (Exposure to sexual risks -Increased risk when)

• They start sexual activity early.

• They have multiple partners.

• They do not use contraception regularly.

• They have inadequate or misinformation about sex.

• Other risk factors: living in an economically disadvantaged community, substance abuse, antisocial behaviour, and proximity to problematic peers

Factors in the early onset of sexual activity

• Early onset of puberty.

• Poverty.

• Poor school performance and lack of academic and professional goals.

• History of sexual abuse.

• Parental neglect, father's absence.

• Cultural or familial patterns of early sexual experience.

Contraceptive use

• The majority state that they use some form of contraception in their relationships (91.3%).

• The majority use condoms as a method of contraception (89.6%).

• 8.7% reported not using any.

• There are no gender differences.

• Have refused sexual intercourse if a condom was not available: 58.8% (more girls).

• The most influential factor is → the perceived risk of pregnancy due to its immediate effect.

• When they start using other contraceptive methods, they stop using condoms, leaving them unprotected against STIs.

• Best safeguard for sexually active adolescents > regular condom use.

Sources of information on sex

• They are getting information from friends, parents, sex education at school and in the media/internet.

• Embarrassment when discussing contraception with the doctor.

• Favourable attitudes towards safer sex if adolescents can discuss sex with older siblings and parents.

• Importance of sexuality education programmes.

Benefits of sex education programmes

They reduce misinformation or misinformation.

- They increase scientific knowledge on the subject.

- They clarify values.

- They improve self-esteem.

- They increase the ability to make more responsible and less risky decisions.

- Improve perceptions of peer pressure norms.

- Increase communication with parents and other trusted adults.

Prevalence of STDs in adolescents

• In a single unprotected encounter, there is a 1% risk of acquiring HIV, a 30% risk of acquiring genital herpes and a 50% risk of acquiring gonorrhoea.

• One in four adolescents will have a sexually transmitted disease before the age of 18.

• Young people aged 15-24 account for 50% of those diagnosed with STDs each year, and 25% carry HPV.

Prevalence factors of STDs in adolescents:

Early sexual activity increases the likelihood of multiple high-risk partners.

• Not using condoms or not using them regularly and correctly.

• They are maintaining relationships with older partners.

• Irrational beliefs → “If you have sex sporadically, it is difficult to get infected”, etc.

• Perception of low personal risk

Main STDs: Human papillomavirus (HPV)

Most common STDs=Sexually Transmitted Diseases

• Increased risk to 50% in girls with three or more partners.

• Severe genital HPV → cancers if chronically infected: the leading cause of cervical cancer in women.

• Vaccines to prevent the types of HPV that cause most

cases of cervical cancer.

Main STDs: Gonorrhoea and chlamydia

Most common curable STDs.

• Bacteria cause it.

• Symptoms: discharge and burning during urination.

• If left untreated, they can cause infertility and other diseases.

Main STDs: Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV).

It causes AIDS, a serious chronic STI.

• Body fluids transmit it.

• Attacks the body's immune system → dramatically increases vulnerability to several fatal opportunistic diseases.

• Symptoms → extreme fatigue, fever, swollen lymph glands, nodules, weight loss, diarrhoea and night sweats.

Adolescent pregnancy and childbearing.

Alfaro et al. (2015): = 3.6% reported having become pregnant or having made their partner pregnant (5.3% of boys and 1.3% of girls).

Teenage pregnancy

• According to some studies, more than 90 percent of pregnant adolescents describe their pregnancies are unplanned.

• Fifty percent of them occur within 6 months of sexual initiation.

Main physical consequences

• Lack of medical care from the beginning of pregnancy.

• Low birth weight of the newborn due to organic causes.

• High maternal mortality has become, in developing countries, one of the most frequent causes of death in adolescents (due to embolism, hypertensive disease and ectopic pregnancies).

• Anaemia in young pregnant women.

• Sometimes pregnancy coexists with sexually transmitted diseases.

Preventing adolescent pregnancy

Universal sexuality education programmes → encourage delaying sex until it is completely safe and using contraception:

- Sexuality education.

- Acquisition of skills to make responsible sexual decisions and to communicate with partners.

- Information on risks and consequences of teenage pregnancy, birth control methods and where to get medical help and contraceptives.

Preventing adolescent pregnancy

• Access to reproductive services → contraceptives are provided free of charge to adolescents.

• Programmes that motivate you to succeed teach you how to make decisions, manage emotions and deal with peers and adults.

Pregnancy in adolescence as social problem

Pregnancy in adolescence is a serious social problem and risk situation → notable acceleration of the course of life, forcing the adolescent to go through life situations that are not appropriate to their evolutionary stage.

Adolescent pregnancy and childbearing

Adolescent pregnancy → early initiation of sexual intercourse and inadequate use of contraception

Explanatory factors regarding early initiation of sexual intercourse and inadequate use of contraception

• Less stigmatisation of childbearing outside marriage.

• Glorification of sex in the media.

• Lack of a clear message about the dangers of early

childbearing.

• The inability of parents to communicate with their children.

Main psychological and social consequences

Placing the newborn for adoption → guilt and regret.

• Forming a single-parent family > school drop-out, unemployment or low-paid employment, parenting difficulties, unstructured environment.

• Forming a marriage → financial difficulties, lack of skills, emotional maturity and social support.

• Increased risk for children of unmarried adolescent mothers → academic and developmental problems, depression, drug abuse and early sexual activity, delinquent behaviour, to also be single parents.