Age of Puberty and Western Young Women Sexuality
The onset of menarche and age of first sexual experience have both lowered over the past century. Does the age of puberty influence the sexuality of the girl/young occidental woman? If so, to what degree? Besides, is the acquisition of reproductive function, regardless of age, a sign of sufficient maturity to engage in sexual activity? Studies show that early puberty, early sex, unprotected sexual intercourse in adolescence and number of sexual partners in early adulthood are closely related. These early sexual experiences could be stimulated by early drug use as well as by depressive disorders. The age of puberty has a real influence on sexuality but this link will be modulated by a number of social behavioral factors and it is not sustainable. The age of puberty is not a good indicator of maturity for teenage sexuality; early maturation and early sexual activity are usually associated with risky behaviors.
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Why 14 is the riskiest age for a teenager
They’re more embarrassed
Parents, it’s not your imagination — teens are more physically embarrassed (often by you). A 2013 Harvard study scanned participants in MRI scanners and then alerted them that a peer was watching (in reality, there was no peer). “Observed” teens showed greater activity in their medial prefrontal cortex, an area of the brain associated with “reflecting on the self,” writes Blakemore. Even their skin revealed inner turmoil. Teens produced more sweat when they thought they were being watched.
Teens don’t always take risks, but they do when they’re with friends
A simulation driving game asked different age groups to get around a track as fast as possible while still obeying traffic lights. Yellow lights represented a risky choice — as you would have a higher chance of causing an accident and losing time and points. Teens ages 13-16 were almost twice as likely to run yellow lights when playing the game in front of friends. Interestingly, there was not an increase of yellow-light running when they played alone. “It means that adolescents don’t always take risks, contrary to the stereotype,” writes Blakemore.
Risky behavior continues into our early 20s
A risk-assessing card game — where one pack of cards is considered a “risky” deck with big payouts and even bigger losses and the other is a “steady earner” — showed that adolescents 14-21 were more likely to choose the risky deck. “This age group preferred and persisted with the risk pack, even though it eventually lost them money.” Children and adults were more likely to stick with the steady earners.
Even teen mice experience peer pressure
A 2014 study on rodents showed that adolescent mice drink more alcohol (yes, apparently mice will hit the sauce) if they’re surrounded by other adolescent mice. This isn’t true for adult mice, who drink the same no matter who they’re with.
Puberty does a number on the brain
A series of memory tests from the 1980s showed that there is a “dip” in the memory tasks around age 12. A 2000 follow-up confirmed that 11- and 12-year-olds were 15 percent slower than 10- to 11-year-olds when asked to identify emotions in photographs of faces. “We don’t yet understand the causes of the possible dip . . . It’s possible that the large changes in sex hormones at this time might trigger changes in brain circuitry,” Blakemore writes. This supports evidence of the “educational dip” in early adolescence, between 12 and 14, where some students tend to do worse in school.
Parents, it’s not your imagination — teens are more physically embarrassed (often by you). A 2013 Harvard study scanned participants in MRI scanners and then alerted them that a peer was watching (in reality, there was no peer). “Observed” teens showed greater activity in their medial prefrontal cortex, an area of the brain associated with “reflecting on the self,” writes Blakemore. Even their skin revealed inner turmoil. Teens produced more sweat when they thought they were being watched.
Teens don’t always take risks, but they do when they’re with friends
A simulation driving game asked different age groups to get around a track as fast as possible while still obeying traffic lights. Yellow lights represented a risky choice — as you would have a higher chance of causing an accident and losing time and points. Teens ages 13-16 were almost twice as likely to run yellow lights when playing the game in front of friends. Interestingly, there was not an increase of yellow-light running when they played alone. “It means that adolescents don’t always take risks, contrary to the stereotype,” writes Blakemore.
Risky behavior continues into our early 20s
A risk-assessing card game — where one pack of cards is considered a “risky” deck with big payouts and even bigger losses and the other is a “steady earner” — showed that adolescents 14-21 were more likely to choose the risky deck. “This age group preferred and persisted with the risk pack, even though it eventually lost them money.” Children and adults were more likely to stick with the steady earners.
Even teen mice experience peer pressure
A 2014 study on rodents showed that adolescent mice drink more alcohol (yes, apparently mice will hit the sauce) if they’re surrounded by other adolescent mice. This isn’t true for adult mice, who drink the same no matter who they’re with.
Puberty does a number on the brain
A series of memory tests from the 1980s showed that there is a “dip” in the memory tasks around age 12. A 2000 follow-up confirmed that 11- and 12-year-olds were 15 percent slower than 10- to 11-year-olds when asked to identify emotions in photographs of faces. “We don’t yet understand the causes of the possible dip . . . It’s possible that the large changes in sex hormones at this time might trigger changes in brain circuitry,” Blakemore writes. This supports evidence of the “educational dip” in early adolescence, between 12 and 14, where some students tend to do worse in school.
They’re more creative (in some ways)
Visual creativity is often highest in adolescence, studies have shown. Though adults perform better on “verbal divergent” thinking (for example, “name various uses for a brick”), mid-adolescents (ages 15 and 16) did better on “visual divergent” tests (for example, “make up similarities between different drawings”) than younger adolescents and adults. “Creativity is still developing in adolescence,” writes Blakemore. “Adolescents are creative, their brains are plastic and malleable and they are quick learners.”
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