Exploring Self-Esteem and Sexual Orientation as Predictors of Sexual Debut in Adolescence

Abstract

One of the most important behavioral developments adolescents experience is “sexual debut”, or the first time that an individual engages in sexual intercourse. The timing of this developmental milestone can vary based on group identity such as sexual orientation: past work suggests that queer youth are more likely to have an earlier sexual debut than heterosexual youth, as well as by psychological factors like self-esteem such that low self-esteem is associated with sometimes increasing and sometimes decreasing the likelihood of having a sexual debut. In this investigation, I aim to replicate the results of previous literature regarding the respective links of sexual orientation, and self-esteem to sexual debut, and explore a possible interaction between these variables. In Study 1, I perform a logistic regression looking at orientation and self-esteem as predictors of the likelihood of having a sexual debut. I observed no significant main effects or interactions between sexual orientation and self-esteem on sexual debut. In Study 2, I take a slightly different approach and perform a linear regression to look at orientation and self-esteem as predictors of the timing of sexual debut, measured using age. Again, I observed no significant main effects or interactions between sexual orientation and self-esteem on sexual debut. After acknowledging the limitations of this investigation relating to methodology and participant sample, I recommend improvements for future study designs and identify avenues for more research in this area.