ArticleJournal of sex research2017
Is "Sexual Competence" at First Heterosexual Intercourse Associated With Subsequent Sexual Health Status?
Article in Journal of sex research, 2017. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 20 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
20 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 49 citations in OpenAlex.
- A COSMIN Systematic Review of Sexual Health Literacy Self-Report Measures for Adolescents.Archives of sexual behavior · 2025Pooled it
- Effects of a whole-school relationships and sexual health intervention on non-competent sexual debut: cluster-randomised trial.Journal of epidemiology and community health · 2026Trial
- Associations of Implicit and Explicit Sexual Double Standard Endorsement and Sexual Assertiveness with Sexual and Interactional Competence in Emerging Adults.Behavioral sciences (Basel, Switzerland) · 2024Article
- Effectiveness of a Comprehensive School-Based Sex Education Program for Young Adolescents in the Netherlands.Journal of youth and adolescence · 2024Article
- Development, implementation, and evaluation of the effectiveness of an intervention program to improve the sexual competence of young adult women about to get married: a protocol study.Reproductive health · 2024Article
- Sexual experiences and behaviours in the offspring generation of the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Childhood.Wellcome open research · 2024Article
- Changes in sexually transmitted infections-related sexual risk-taking among young Croatian adults: a 2005-2021 three-wave population-based study.Croatian medical journal · 2023Article
- Impacts of COVID-19 on sexual behaviour in Britain: findings from a large, quasi-representative survey (Natsal-COVID).Sexually transmitted infections · 2022Article
- Young People Awareness of Sexually Transmitted Diseases and Contraception: A Portuguese Population-Based Cross-Sectional Study.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2022Article
- Feasibility and acceptability of a whole-school social-marketing intervention to prevent unintended teenage pregnancies and promote sexual health: evidence for progression from a pilot to a phase III randomised trial in English secondary schools.Pilot and feasibility studies · 2022Article
- Article
- Co-production of two whole-school sexual health interventions for English secondary schools: positive choices and project respect.Pilot and feasibility studies · 2021Article
- Latent class analysis of sexual health markers among men and women participating in a British probability sample survey.BMC public health · 2020Article
- Partnered Intimate Activities in Early Adolescence-Findings From the UK Millennium Cohort Study.The Journal of adolescent health : official publication of the Society for Adolescent Medicine · 2019Article
- Feelings about the timing of first sexual intercourse and health-related quality of life among adolescents.BMC public health · 2019Article
- Prevalence and correlates of 'sexual competence' at first heterosexual intercourse among young people in Britain.BMJ sexual & reproductive health · 2019Article
- Birth order and parental and sibling involvement in sex education. A nationally-representative analysis.Sex education · 2019Article
- Peer-led intervention to prevent and reduce STI transmission and improve sexual health in secondary schools (STASH): protocol for a feasibility study.Pilot and feasibility studies · 2018Article
- Ethnic variations in sexual behaviours and sexual health markers: findings from the third British National Survey of Sexual Attitudes and Lifestyles (Natsal-3).The Lancet. Public health · 2017Article
- The Sooner, the Worse? Association between Earlier Age of Sexual Initiation and Worse Adolescent Health and Well-being Outcomes.Frontiers in psychology · 2017Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
8 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
The timing of first sexual intercourse is often defined in terms of chronological age, with particular focus on "early" first sex. Arguments can be made for a more nuanced concept of readiness and appropriateness of timing of first intercourse. Using data from the third National Survey of Sexual Attitudes and Lifestyles (Natsal-3), conducted in 2010-2012, this study examined whether a context-based measure of first intercourse-termed sexual competence-was associated with subsequent sexual health in a population-based sample of 17-to 24-year-olds residing in Britain (n = 2,784). Participants were classified as "sexually competent" at first intercourse if they reported the following four criteria: contraceptive protection, autonomy of decision (not due to external influences), that both partners were "equally willing," and that it happened at the "right time." A lack of sexual competence at first intercourse was independently associated with testing positive for human papillomavirus (HPV) at interview; low sexual function in the past year; and among women only, reported sexually transmitted infection (STI) diagnosis ever; unplanned pregnancy in the past year; and having ever experienced nonvolitional sex. These findings provide empirical support for defining the nature of first intercourse with reference to contextual aspects of the experience, as opposed to a sole focus on chronological age at occurrence.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.