Columbia Study of Virginity Pledges Reveal Much More About Teen Sexual Activity Than Media Reports Reveal, Notes The Medical Institute for Sexual Health

AUSTIN, TEXAS (March 12, 2004) —“A just-released follow-up study about youth who signed virginity pledges reveals much more about the sexual health and sexual decision-making of American young people than what is being reported in the popular press,” commented Joe S. McIlhaney, Jr., MD, Chairman and Founder of The Medical Institute for Sexual Health.

Dr. McIlhaney criticized advocates who seized upon the study who dismiss abstinence-education programs as ineffective.  He also noted that the study, released Wednesday at a conference by Columbia University professor Dr. Peter Bearman, finds some important health effects of virginity pledges.

“First of all, we must realize that virginity pledges are not the same as abstinence-education.  These programs generally include character and relationship education, skill-building to support healthy choices, information on sexually transmitted diseases (STD), and parent and teen communication skills.

“While the Columbia study looked only at virginity pledges and their impact on later sexual activity of youth, the study did find important health effects, most notably that teens who took the pledge delayed sexual debut an average of 18 months and, after becoming sexually active, had fewer sexual partners.  This is important because the number of sexual partners is the number one risk factor for contracting an STD.”

Dr. McIlhaney pointed other important findings from the study:

• The percentage of those 18 to 24 years of age who had intercourse before marriage was 88 percent among pledge takers and 99 percent among non-pledge takers.  Those who signed pledges were therefore 12 times more likely than non-pledge takers to be virgins at marriage.

• Twice as many pledge-takers were married by age 23 as compared to non-pledge takers – it is therefore very possible that sexual activity of many pledge-takers was with their fiancé.

• While the prevalence of STDs was essentially the same between the two groups – those who had not signed virginity pledges had slightly higher rates than those who did – it must be noted that STD rates in this study are for the period of the study only.  Given the earlier age of sexual debut and higher number of sexual partners for youth who did not sign virginity pledges, it is reasonable to expect that these youth had more STD infections in the past than did pledge-takers.

• The Columbia study reports that, once sexually active, young people who had signed pledges were less likely to use condoms than young people who had not signed pledges.  Yet the study reveals an almost equal STD rate among the two groups, raising questions about the effectiveness of condoms as an STD risk-reduction tool.  It is interesting to note that of the group who used condoms the most, only 59 percent actually used condoms and that the group with the lowest condom use rate had the lowest STD rate.

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The Medical Institute for Sexual Health is a non-profit educational organization established in 1992 to identify, evaluate, and communicate credible scientific data to promote healthy decisions and behavior.  To learn more about The Medical Institute visit www.medinstitute.org