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Web End = Arch Sex Behav (2016) 45:329337 DOI 10.1007/s10508-015-0654-6
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Web End = Oral vs. Vaginal Sex Experiences and Consequences Among First-Year College Students
Eva S. Lefkowitz1 Sara A. Vasilenko2 Chelom E. Leavitt1
Received: 15 October 2014 / Revised: 22 October 2015 / Accepted: 23 October 2015 / Published online: 23 November 2015 Springer Science+Business Media New York 2015
Abstract Tofullyunderstandlateadolescentsexperiencesof oral sex, we must consider both risk and normative developmentalperspectives.Sexualexperiencesincludearangeofbehaviors, butresearchonsexualbehaviorsandconsequencesfocusesprimarilyonvaginalsex.Oralsexoccursatratessimilartovaginal sex,andcarriessome,thoughless,riskthanvaginalsex.Thecurrent studyexamined theevent-levelprevalenceand consequences of oral sex compared to vaginal sex with other-sex partners in rst-yearcollegestudents.Dailydatawerefromrecentlysexually active rst-year college students (N = 253 people, 834 days; Mage,18.4 years;SD= 0.4;56%female;31%Hispanic/Latino; 17 % AfricanAmerican,14 %AsianAmerican/PacicIslander, 25%EuropeanAmerican,12%multiracial)whoreportedonsexualbehaviorsandconsequences.Bothpositive(intimacy,physical satisfaction)andnegative(worryingabouthealth,guilt)consequenceswerelesscommonfororalthanvaginalsex.Genderdifferences suggested that female adolescents may nd vaginal sex more rewarding than oral sex, whereas male adolescents may nd them equally rewarding.
Keywords Oral sex Sexual behavior Adolescents
Introduction
Although sexual experiences are multidimensional and include manybehaviors,researchonadolescentsexualbehaviorpredomi nantlyfocusesonvaginalsex(denedhereasapenispenetrating a vagina) in heterosexual samples. This focus likely reects the fact that vaginal sex is the only behavior that carries the risk of pregnancy and carries one of the highest transmission rates of sexually transmitted infections (STIs) (Burchell, Winer, de San jos, & Franco, 2006; Holmes, Levine, & Weaver, 2004). However, from such a risk perspective, the study of oral sex (dened here as a mouth coming in contact with another persons genitals) is still important. Although STI transmission is lower from oral than vaginal sex, adolescents are less aware of transmission and less likely to use protective methods from STIs with oral than vaginal sex (Downing-Matibag & Geisinger, 2009; Fielder & Carey, 2010b; Halpern-Felsher, Cornell, Kropp, & Tschann, 2005).
In addition, researchers have advocated studying adolescent sexualbehaviorfrom a normativedevelopmental perspective that examines non-procreative sexual behaviors as a part of sexuality development and potential contributors to positive and negative outcomes (Tolman & McClelland, 2011). Consistent with this normative perspective, most individuals engage in oral sex by the end of adolescence/start of adulthood, and thus, oral sexispartoftheexplorationanddevelopmentofonessexualself in this period (Bay-Cheng & Fava, 2011; Cornell & Halpern-Felsher, 2006; Dalton & Galambos, 2009). However, little is known...