Sex before peers linked to delinquency

COLUMBUS, Ohio, Feb. 27 (UPI) -- A U.S. study of more than 7,000 youth found that adolescents who had sex early showed a 20 percent increase in delinquent acts one year later.

In contrast, those teens who waited longer than average to have sex -- whose first sexual experience occurred at the average age for their school -- had delinquency rates 50 percent lower a year later compared to average teens, according to study co-author Stacy Armour, a doctoral student in sociology at Ohio State University.

"We're not finding that sex itself leads to delinquency, but instead, that beginning sexual relationships long before your friends is cause for concern," said Armour.

The study found that youth who had their sexual debut between the first and second surveys showed a 58 percent increase in delinquency compared to those who remained virgins. But the increases were more pronounced for those who were younger than their peers when they first had sex.

In this study, the average age of sexual debut -- first intercourse -- was calculated for each school in the sample -- so that respondents in the study are compared to the peers in their own school, according to Armour.

The average age for sexual debut in this study ranged from 11.25 to 17.5 years of age, depending on the individual schools, according to the study published in the Journal of Youth and Adolescence.