Abstract
Intimate sexual activity is only just beginning at ages 12 and 13. The object of this study is to determine how far it has advanced in Canada, and to review some of the key factors that may underlie the development of intimate sexual activity, defined as either petting or sexual intercourse.
Canada's first survey of sexual activity of 12- and 13-year-olds indicates that, of the children answering questions on sexual intimacy, one in five girls has engaged in petting above the waist (one in four boys), 15% in petting below the waist (20% of boys) and 4.4% of the boys has engaged in sexual intercourse. Among girls, 16% report intimate sex at age 12 and 25% report intimate sex at age 13, compared with 21% and 33%, respectively, of boys.
The incidence of intimate sexual activity increases with decreasing frequency of church attendance (especially for girls), and is higher for French Catholic girls and boys (compared with non-French Catholic, liberal Protestant, conservative Christian and children with no religious affiliation). Incidence is also higher among both girls and boys who do not like school, whose body hair is growing, who think other children find them good looking, who never stay out later at night than they should, and whose mother smokes daily.
Estimates for a model confirm the importance of several of these relationships, after we control for the effect of the other factors. In addition, the analytical results detect greater frequency of intimacy of boys who comfort others, of girls engaged in volunteer activities, and of girls with mothers who do not have a university degree. No association with intimacy is found if the girl or boy has older siblings, or is happy with life.
The study concludes with some implications of the research for parents, educators, and analysts.