Citation

Saewyc EM, Bearinger LH, Blum RW, Resnick MD. Fam. Plann. Perspect. 1999; 31(3): 127-131.

Affiliation

School of Nursing and Division of Adolescent Medicine, University of Washington, Seattle, USA.

Copyright

(Copyright © 1999, Alan Guttmacher Institute)

DOI

unavailable

PMID

10379429

Abstract

The influence of sexual orientation on adolescents' sexual behaviors and pregnancy histories was investigated in a subsample of 3816 female adolescents, 12-19 years old, who completed the 1987 Minnesota (US) Adolescent Health Survey. 182 identified themselves as bisexual or lesbian, 1753 were unsure of their sexual orientation, and 1881 were heterosexual. Bisexual/lesbian respondents were about as likely as heterosexual respondents ever to have had intercourse (33.0% and 29.3%, respectively), but they had a significantly higher prevalence of childhood physical abuse (19.3% vs. 11.9%) and sexual abuse (22.1% vs. 15.3%) than their heterosexual counterparts. Among sexually experienced respondents, 29.8% of bisexual/lesbian adolescents, 43.5% of those unsure about their identity, and 23.1% of heterosexuals used no contraception and 12.3%, 8.5%, and 14.5%, respectively, of those who used contraception used an ineffective method. 12.3% of bisexual/lesbian women, 6.1% of those unsure about their sexual orientation, and 5.3% of heterosexual adolescents had experienced a pregnancy; 2 or more pregnancies were reported by 23.5%, 15.1%, and 9.8%, respectively, of ever-pregnant teens. Finally, 9.7% of bisexual/lesbian women had engaged in prostitution in the year preceding the survey, compared with 1.9% of heterosexuals and 3.4% of those unsure about their orientation. These findings suggest that adolescents who identify themselves as lesbian or bisexual are at high risk of pregnancy and poor contraceptive practices. Providers of reproductive health care and family planning services should not assume that their pregnant adolescent patients are heterosexual or that lesbian clients or those unsure of their sexual orientation are not in need of contraception.

Language: en