Non-Coital and Coital Sexual Behaviors of Adolescents in the U.S.

David Kanouse, RAND
Rebecca Collins, RAND
Marc Elliott, RAND
Sandra Berry, RAND
Sarah Hunter, RAND
Angela Miu, RAND

This study examined cross-sectional and longitudinal relationships between adolescents' non-coital behaviors (kissing, making out, breast touching, genital touching, oral sex) and coitus. Data are from a national survey of 2,003 adolescents aged 12 through 17 years, with two waves of data collection one year apart. Responses to questions about non-coital behaviors at baseline were used to classify respondents into five ordered stages, which were highly predictive of the likelihood of having engaged in vaginal intercourse. Furthermore, among those who had not had vaginal intercourse at baseline, the highest level of non-coital behavior reported at baseline was predictive of the highest level of sexual behavior attained at follow-up. Several predictors of non-coital behaviors and coitus differed significantly. Results show that non-coital behaviors occur in an orderly way, and the stage an adolescent has reached at a given point in time is highly predictive of the likelihood of intercourse a year later.