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Sexual Debut

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Encyclopedia of Adolescence

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Overview

The second decade of life involves rapid development of sexuality and the onset of sexual behavior for most adolescents living in the Western world. This essay begins by describing the most common theoretical and empirical orientations to research on adolescent sexual behavior. Following this, three primary topics are addressed by drawing from the past 40 years of research in psychology, public health, and related fields. These topics include describing age-related patterns of adolescent sexual behavior; summarizing what is known about how individual biology, perceptions, attitudes, and social relationships are associated with early, typical, or delayed onset of sexual behavior; and considering how adolescents must and sometimes do balance the risks and benefits of sexual behavior. Throughout these topics, the importance of nationality, race/ethnicity, and gender are acknowledged, and known demographic differences are highlighted.

Adolescent Sexual Behavior

Adolescence brings...

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Psychological Health Research Unit, School of Psychology and Griffith Health Institute, Griffith University-Gold Coast Campus, 4222, Gold Coast, QLD, Australia

    Melanie J. Zimmer-Gembeck

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  1. Melanie J. Zimmer-Gembeck
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Correspondence to Melanie J. Zimmer-Gembeck .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Indiana University, 302 Sycamore Hall, Bloomington, IN, 47405, USA

    Roger J. R. Levesque

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Zimmer-Gembeck, M.J. (2011). Sexual Debut. In: Levesque, R.J.R. (eds) Encyclopedia of Adolescence. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4419-1695-2_56

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4419-1695-2_56

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, New York, NY

  • Print ISBN: 978-1-4419-1694-5

  • Online ISBN: 978-1-4419-1695-2

  • eBook Packages: Behavioral Science

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