Teen sexual behavior has been associated with a wide range of problems -- but a new study indicates that all sexual activity doesn't have equal impact on teens' abilities to do well in school.
Professors Bill McCarthy and Eric Grodsky of the University of California and the University of Minnesota reviewed surveys and school transcripts from a decade-long study begun in 1994 of high school students.
- Teenagers who have sex within serious, romantic relationships have academic achievements similar to those who remain virgins, the researchers discovered.
- Teens having sex within serious relationships were not statistically different from virgins on measures such as grade point averages, college acceptances, problems at school, and attachment to their school.
- However, teens who engage in casual sex have lower grades and are at higher risk for suspension and expulsion from school, and they are less likely to go to college.
"Compared to abstinence, sexual intercourse in committed romantic relationships is often academically harmless, whereas in other types of relationships it is more detrimental," according to Drs. McCarthy and Grodsky. "Females and males who have sex only with romantic partners are generally similar to abstainers on most of the education measures we examined."
This study was presented at the annual meeting of the American Sociological Association.
Labels: relationships, sex, academic performance
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