Women Who Had Sex As Teens More Likely To Divorce

Study shows comparison of divorce rates

Analysis shows increased likelihood of divorce for women that had sex prior to adulthood

Conducting yet another study that judges us on how we live our lives, The University of Iowa found that 31 percent of women who had sex for the first time as teens divorced within five years of getting hitched, and 47 percent divorced within 10 years.

By comparison, the divorce rate for women who waited to have sex when they were adults had a much lower rate, being 15 percent at five years, and 27 percent at 10 years.

What could having sex as a teen possibly have to do with getting divorced?

The man who conducted the study is an associate professor of sociology in the UI College of Liberal Arts and Sciences named Anthony Paik. For this study, he used the 2002 National Survey of Family Growth and analyzed the feedback of 3,793 women, with the results of his findings recently published in the April issue of the Journal of Marriage and Family.

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"The results are consistent with the argument that there are down sides to adolescent sexuality, including the increased likelihood of divorce," said Paik in his analysis.  "But there's also support for the 'more sex positive' view, because if a teen delays sex to late adolescence and it is wanted, that choice in itself doesn't necessarily lead to increased risk of divorce."

Paik mentions two possible explanations for the association between sex during your teens and divorce: One is a selection explanation, which the professor described as "The women who had sex as adolescents were predisposed to divorce. The attitudes that made them feel OK about having sex as teens may have also influenced the outcome of their marriage."

The other is a causal explanation, depicted as one that led to the development of behaviors and beliefs that encourages divorce, due in part to the early sexual experience.

After observing them, Paik found more evidence for causal explanations, mentioning that perhaps sexual experiences as a teen can affect the marriage.

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"If the sex was not completely wanted or occurred in a traumatic context, it's easy to imagine how that could have a negative impact on how women might feel about relationships, or on relationship skills," Paik explained. "The experience could point people on a path toward less stable relationships."

Do you, fellow reader, feel that a study should determine how you feel about divorce? Feel free to comment below!