PUBLIC HEALTH & EDUCATION | Teens Who Make 'Virginity Pledges' More Likely To Delay Sexual Activity, Study Says
[June 11, 2008]

Teenagers who make "virginity pledges," which require a pledge to remain abstinent until marriage, are less likely to be sexually active than teens who do not make such pledges, according to a RAND study, titled "Virginity Pledges Among the Willing: Delays in First Intercourse and Consistency of Condom Use," published online in the Journal of Adolescent Health, USA Today reports (Jayson, USA Today, 6/11).

According to the study's lead author Steven Martino, a Pittsburgh-based psychologist, the findings "do not suggest that virginity pledges should be a substitute for comprehensive sex education programs or that they will work for all kinds of kids. ... But virginity pledges may be appropriate as one component of an overall sex education effort." The new analysis is the latest attempt to determine whether virginity pledges are effective. According to USA Today, some studies suggest that pledges do help postpone first-time sex among teens, while other research suggests they don't. In addition, there are questions about how truthful teens are when answering questions about sex, USA Today reports.

For the study, Martino and colleagues in 2001 interviewed 1,461 adolescents ages 12 to 17 who said they were virgins. About 25% of the teens had taken a virginity pledge. The researchers then interviewed the teens one year and three years later. Among the teens who had taken virginity pledges, 34% had sex within three years, compared with 42% of the teens who did not sign the pledge. The study also found that teens who made pledges were no more likely to engage in other sexual activities than teens who did not pledge (Fox, Reuters, 6/10).

In telephone interviews, the teens who made pledges had similar responses regarding parental disapproval of sex, self-esteem, perceived peer approval of sex and parental monitoring of teens who did not make pledges, the study found (USA Today, 6/11). The researchers also took into account differences among teens, such as religious beliefs, parenting and friendship characteristics. Teens who made pledges were not less likely to use a condom if they had sex, although the study did not ask whether they always used condoms or used one the first time they had sex (Reuters, 6/10).

According to USA Today, past research has found that 23% of teenage girls and 16% of teenage boys have made virginity pledges (USA Today, 6/11).

Comments

Martino said that the pledges might "provide extra motivation to adolescents who want to delay becoming sexually active," adding that the pledges also might "create some social pressure or social support that helps [teens] to follow through with their clearly stated public intention" to remain abstinent (Reuters, 6/10). He also emphasized that comprehensive sex education programs are necessary because many teens have sex regardless of whether they take virginity pledges.

Valerie Huber, executive director of the National Abstinence Education Association, said the pledges are not "equivalent" to abstinence-only education programs because they are a "single event with a personal commitment, but there's often no follow-up." She added that abstinence education programs are a "natural reinforcement" of the "personal decision" among teens who make virginity pledges (USA Today, 6/11).





The information contained in this publication reflects media coverage of women’s health issues and does not necessarily reflect the views of the National Partnership for Women & Families.

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