Original article
The Association Between Developmental Assets and Sexual Enjoyment Among Emerging Adults

Portions of these analyses were presented at the 2009 meeting of the Population Association of America in Detroit.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jadohealth.2010.09.008Get rights and content

Abstract

Purpose

To examine the associations between three key developmental assets and an aspect of sexual health, sexual enjoyment, which has rarely been studied in young adults, although its importance is stressed in all recent sexual health policy statements.

Methods

Using data from wave III (2001–2002) of the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health, and multiple logistic and ordered logistic regression, we explored the associations between sexual pleasure and autonomy, self-esteem, and empathy among 3,237 respondents aged 18–26 years in heterosexual relationships of ≥3-month duration. We also examined the distribution of sexual pleasure across various socio-demographic groups.

Results

Compared with young women, young men reported more regular orgasms and more enjoyment of two kinds of partnered sexual behavior. Sexual enjoyment was not associated with age, race/ethnicity, or socioeconomic status. Among women, autonomy, self-esteem, and empathy co-varied positively with all three sexual enjoyment measures. Among men, all associations were in the same direction, but not all were statistically significant.

Conclusion

A substantial gender difference in enjoyment of partnered sexual behavior exists among emerging adults in the United States. This study is the first to use a representative population sample to find a relationship between developmental assets and a positive aspect of sexual health − sexual pleasure.

Section snippets

Adolescents' Subjective Experiences of Partnered Sex

Although studies are limited, the existing published data suggest that substantial gender differences exist in adolescents' experiences of partnered sex. Qualitative studies have reported that young women struggle to recognize their sexual feelings and communicate their wishes assertively, and as a result, often voluntarily engage in sexual behavior without necessarily enjoying it [7], [8], [15]. These studies suggest that peer-reinforced social norms, particularly those related to appropriate

Developmental Assets and Sexual Enjoyment

There is consensus that successful transition to adulthood is more likely among youth who possess assets, the cultivation of which is the goal of positive youth development [19]. A recent set of reviews of published data reported that many of these assets were associated with reduced risk of some negative sexual health outcomes [9]. These reviews focused on developmental assets drawn from the four categories suggested by Pittman et al: connectedness, competence, confidence, and character [9],

Data

Data for these analyses were obtained from wave III of the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health (Add Health). Add Health is an ongoing study of a nationally representative cohort of youth who were in grades 7–12 in the 1994–1995 school year. Of the 20,745 students interviewed in their homes during 1994 and 1995 in wave I, 15,197 were re-interviewed in wave III during 2001 and 2002, when they were 18–26 years old.

The interviews took place in the respondents' homes. The interviewer

Gender differences in sexual enjoyment and developmental assets

The distributions of the sexual pleasure variables are shown in Table 1. Men were more likely than women to report having orgasms most or all the time: 87% versus 47%. A total of 15% of young women reported having orgasms less than half the time or never, whereas only 2.6% of young men reported having orgasms with that regularity. Men who had performed oral sex for their partner were also more likely than women who had performed so to report liking it very much: 61% versus 37%. There was also

Discussion

enjoyment of partnered sexual behavior as measured in this study, does not differ along racial/ethnic, age, or SES lines, but it clearly differs by gender. Less than half of young women in established opposite-sex relationships have an orgasm most or all the times they have sex with their partner. In contrast, nearly nine out of 10 young men in such relationships have orgasms this regularly. Young women are also five times as likely as young men to have orgasms less than half the time they have

Conclusion

This study adds to the published data that have shown protective effects of developmental assets on negative sexual and reproductive health outcomes [22], [23]. These existing studies have examined the links between developmental assets and experiencing adolescent pregnancy, acquiring a sexually transmitted infection, and engaging in risky sexual behavior, such as having sex without contraception, among other undesirable outcomes. This study is the first to use a representative population

Acknowledgments

This research uses data from Add Health, a program project directed by Kathleen Mullan Harris and designed by J. Richard Udry, Peter S. Bearman, and Kathleen Mullan Harris at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and funded by grant P01-HD31921 from the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, with cooperative funding from 23 other federal agencies and foundations. Special acknowledgment is due to Ronald R. Rindfuss and Barbara Entwisle for

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