Transition to sexual activity in adolescents. The importance of dynamics in family structure

Tamara Villalba Morente, Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (CSIC)

The aim of this paper is to analyze the influence of family structure on the earlier beginning of sex activity by adolescents. In Spain, the mean age at the first sexual relation is 15 years old. However, drawing on the HBSC-2010 survey (Health Behavior in School-Aged Children) we can observe that there are some differences in terms of this age between adolescents living in intact two-parent families (15 years old), those in stepfamilies (14,4 years old), those in single-parent families (14,7 years old) and those in homoparental families (14 years old). These differences are explained by some household-related factors, such as its type, composition, history, and parent-child relationship. The sample is composed by 3,999 Spanish adolescents aged 15-20 years. By means of even history analysis we will try to identify which are the main factors that explain the transition to sex activity in young people. Interestingly, we observe that adolescents living in stepfamilies or mother-headed families are first to enter sexual relations. Nevertheless, when we control for family characteristics, the influence of family type is reduced. In sum, the influence of the family is rather explained by the household's internal dynamics.