Short-Term Sexual Health Effects of Relationships with Significantly Older Females on Adolescent Boys

The current study examined the “short-term effects on the sexual health of adolescent boys in age discordant relationships.”

Data from waves one and two of the National Survey of Adolescent Health were used to conduct weighted logistic regression analyses to understand the health effects of adolescent boys dating older females.

Compared to boys in a similar-age relationship, boys involved in an age discordant relationship had higher odds of having had sexual intercourse (OR=2.92), having gotten a partner pregnant (OR=1.89), having had an STD diagnosis (OR=4.41), and having lost their virginity (OR=3.39). Analyses on the sexually active subset indicated no significant association between involvement in an age discordant relationship and birth control use broadly, or condom use specifically, at the boys’ most recent sex.

“In general, entering into an age discordant relationship as a younger partner is associated with some adverse health effects for adolescent boys. Thus some outcomes that were demonstrated in previous research to be problematic for adolescent girls dating significantly older males are similarly problematic for adolescent boys dating older females,” the authors concluded.

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