CHICAGO, Jan. 17 (UPI) -- A Latina woman's beliefs regarding the timing of her first sexual intercourse may outweigh the influence of family, friends and partners, a U.S. study suggests.
Study author Dr. Melissa Gilliam of the University of Chicago Medical Center conducted seven focus groups to determine survey questions most relevant to the culture and experience of the young Latina population.
The researchers tested and administered the survey in both English and Spanish to a separate group of 270 Latinas, between the ages of 17 and 25. The age of sexual initiation ranged from 12 to 24 with 16.15 years as the mean.
The study, published in Journal of Adolescent Health, also found a strong correlation with the young woman's mother's age at first pregnancy and the age of the young woman's first sexual partner. The greater the age difference between the woman and her older partner, the more likely she was to engage in sex at an earlier age, Gilliam said.
