TY - JOUR
T1 - “It Felt Good but Weird at the Same Time”
T2 - Emerging Adults’ First Experiences of Six Different Sexual Behaviors
AU - Vasilenko, Sara A.
AU - Maas, Megan K.
AU - Lefkowitz, Eva S.
N1 - Funding Information:
The author(s) disclosed receipt of the following financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article: This study was funded by Grant R01 AA016016 from the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism to Jennifer Maggs, and Sara Vasilenko was funded by Grants 2T32DA 017629 and P50 DA010075 from the National Institute on Drug Abuse.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2014, © The Author(s) 2014.
PY - 2015/9/13
Y1 - 2015/9/13
N2 - Although sexual behavior is multidimensional, little research has focused on the experience of nonintercourse behaviors for adolescents and emerging adults. This article uses open-ended coded data from a longitudinal study of college students (N = 346; M age = 18.5, 52% female, 27% Hispanic/Latino [HL], 25% non-HL European American, 23% non-HL Asian American, 16% non-HL African American, 9% non-HL multiracial) to examine what emotional responses emerging adults report about their first experiences of six sexual behaviors. The four most common emotional reactions were happy, excited, fearful, and indifferent. Descriptions were largely positive, although mixed reactions were relatively common and emotional reactions varied by behavior. Results suggest the importance of including multiple types of sexual behaviors, as well as their possible positive and negative outcomes, in sexuality education programs.
AB - Although sexual behavior is multidimensional, little research has focused on the experience of nonintercourse behaviors for adolescents and emerging adults. This article uses open-ended coded data from a longitudinal study of college students (N = 346; M age = 18.5, 52% female, 27% Hispanic/Latino [HL], 25% non-HL European American, 23% non-HL Asian American, 16% non-HL African American, 9% non-HL multiracial) to examine what emotional responses emerging adults report about their first experiences of six sexual behaviors. The four most common emotional reactions were happy, excited, fearful, and indifferent. Descriptions were largely positive, although mixed reactions were relatively common and emotional reactions varied by behavior. Results suggest the importance of including multiple types of sexual behaviors, as well as their possible positive and negative outcomes, in sexuality education programs.
KW - emerging adulthood
KW - gender
KW - mixed methods
KW - sexuality
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U2 - 10.1177/0743558414561298
DO - 10.1177/0743558414561298
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:84938921101
SN - 0743-5584
VL - 30
SP - 586
EP - 606
JO - Journal of Adolescent Research
JF - Journal of Adolescent Research
IS - 5
ER -