Prevalence of alcohol use and age at sexual debut among rural, suburban, and urban adolescents

Problem Statement: The Youth Risk Behavior Survey (YRBS) 2005 reported that 47% of adolescents in United States high schools had experienced sexual debut. The same survey reports the current prevalence of alcohol use by adolescents to be 43%. Of sexually active teens 23% reported that they drank or used drugs prior to their most recent sexual intercourse. Few studies have examined the relationship between age at SD and the use of alcohol by adolescents.

Purpose: This study analyzed the prevalence of alcohol use, and the relationship between alcohol use and age at sexual debut among rural, suburban, and urban adolescents.

Methods: A secondary analysis of 2003 YRBS data examined the relationship between alcohol use and age at SD among urban, suburban, and rural adolescents. Multifactor ANOVAs analyzed those relationships while controlling for location of residence.

Findings: Male adolescents reporting alcohol use were younger at SD than those who did not report use. Urban males using alcohol were younger at SD than either suburban or rural males, while suburban and rural males were not different. No difference was found for females.

Implications: Adolescents deserve appropriate interventions aimed at changing behaviors in order to meet Healthy People 2010 goals. Interventions to modify factors affecting age at sexual debut hold the potential to increase the percent of adolescents who abstain from intercourse, and to increase condom use among those adolescents who are sexually active. Decreasing the use of alcohol may also impact rates of unintentional injury among adolescents.