Want to save your daughter from visiting a divorce attorney in Pasadena later in life? A new study says preaching abstinence from sex might just keep teenage girls from getting divorced later in life. According to the report conducted by the University of Iowa, women who lost their virginity in their young teen years are more likely to divorce.
Of the 3,793 women surveyed by researchers, 31 percent who lost their virginity as teens divorced with 15 years of getting married. Women who waited to have sex, on the other hand, had a divorce rate of only 15 percent at five years and 27 percent after a decade of being married. Mainly, the study found that a first sexual experience before the age of 16 was strongly associated with divorce. Early sexual experiences are known to impact the future of sexual and romantic relationships, especially when those sexual encounters are unwanted. Unsurprisingly, 42 percent of the subjects claimed their first sexual experience before the age of 18 wasn't completely wanted and they admitted these experiences have affected their adult life.
Anthony Paik, the author of the study, which was published in theJournal of Marriage and Family, believes unpleasant and unwanted first sexual experiences can seriously damage the way women conduct their future relationships if the problem was never addressed.
"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. The experience could point people on a path toward less stable relationships," Paik said in a press release.
While men who lost their virginity in their teens were not interviewed about their divorce rate for the study, Paik believes the subject could make for a fascinating follow-up.