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| Teens who use drugs are more sexually active |
| Sexuality |
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New Canadian research suggests that teenagers aged 14 to 19 who take drugs, get drunk or smoke are significantly more likely to be sexually active than other teens. Using data from Statistics Canada, the study by the Ottawa-based Institute of Marriage and Family Canada found that pot-smoking girls were 60 per cent more likely to be sexually active, compared to 49 per cent of pot-smoking boys. It calculated from the data that 39.9 per cent of teens on average are sexually active – 41.6 per cent of girls and 38.1 per cent of boys. As well, teens who use LSD or other hallucinogenic drugs are nearly twice as likely to be sexually active – 95 per cent among boys and 96 per cent among girls. The IMFC study also corroborated the findings of previous studies that the more often teens got drunk, the greater the likelihood they would have sex. By contrast, “non-drinkers were 66 per cent less likely to be sexually active,” stated research analyst Peter Jon Mitchell. Even smoking can impact the frequency of teen sexual activity, with 98 per cent of boys and 78 per cent of girls who smoke more likely than the national average to be having sex. Yet more than half of non-smoking teens – 58 per cent of girls and 56 per cent of boys – are less likely to have had sex. In a related finding, the data revealed that 83 per cent of teens who see their “romantic interests” just about every day are sexually active. The study suggests the homes that teenagers grow up in play a key role in their decision as to whether or not to start having sex. “Factors associated with delayed sexual initiation,” Mitchell said, “include boys who reported having older parents and girls with educated parents and from financially secure homes.” Mitchell encourages parents who have to deal with such issues to “strive for a parenting style that is warm, caring and communicative. Sufficient parental supervision, expressed expectations and limits help teens transition toward becoming healthy, autonomous adults.” |
