Reborn a virgin: adolescents' retracting of virginity pledges and sexual histories.
Average rating
Cast your vote
You can rate an item by clicking the amount of stars they wish to award to this item.
When enough users have cast their vote on this item, the average rating will also be shown.
Star rating
Your vote was cast
Thank you for your feedback
Thank you for your feedback
Author
Rosenbaum, Janet EJournal title
American journal of public healthDate Published
2006-05-02Publication Volume
96Publication Issue
6Publication Begin page
1098Publication End page
103
Metadata
Show full item recordAbstract
We examined retractions of virginity pledges and of sexual histories among adolescents taking part in waves 1 and 2 of the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health.Logistic regression analyses were used to compare respondents' reports of virginity pledges and sexual histories at waves 1 and 2.Results. Among wave 1 virginity pledgers, 53% denied having made a pledge at wave 2; after control for confounders, pledgers who subsequently initiated sexual activity were 3 times as likely to deny having made a pledge as those who did not initiate sexual activity (odds ratio [OR] = 3.21; 95% confidence interval [CI] = 2.04, 5.04). Among wave 1 nonvirgins who subsequently took virginity pledges, 28% retracted their sexual histories at wave 2; respondents who took virginity pledges were almost 4 times as likely as those who did not to retract reports of sexual experience (OR=3.88; 95% CI=1.87, 8.07).
Adolescents who initiate sexual activity are likely to recant virginity pledges, whereas those who take pledges are likely to recant their sexual histories. Thus, evaluations of sexual abstinence programs are vulnerable to unreliable data. In addition, virginity pledgers may incorrectly assess the sexually transmitted disease risks associated with their prepledge sexual behavior.
Citation
Rosenbaum JE. Reborn a virgin: adolescents' retracting of virginity pledges and sexual histories. Am J Public Health. 2006 Jun;96(6):1098-103. doi: 10.2105/AJPH.2005.063305. Epub 2006 May 2. PMID: 16670225; PMCID: PMC1470641.Collections
The following license files are associated with this item:
- Creative Commons
Except where otherwise noted, this item's license is described as Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International
Related articles
- Patient teenagers? A comparison of the sexual behavior of virginity pledgers and matched nonpledgers.
- Authors: Rosenbaum JE
- Issue date: 2009 Jan
- Virginity pledges among the willing: delays in first intercourse and consistency of condom use.
- Authors: Martino SC, Elliott MN, Collins RL, Kanouse DE, Berry SH
- Issue date: 2008 Oct
- After the promise: the STD consequences of adolescent virginity pledges.
- Authors: Brückner H, Bearman P
- Issue date: 2005 Apr
- Virginity pledges may work for some adolescents.
- Authors: Martino SC
- Issue date: 2009 Jun
- Coital debut: the role of religiosity and sex attitudes in the Add Health Survey.
- Authors: Rostosky SS, Regnerus MD, Wright ML
- Issue date: 2003 Nov