The Relationship Between Cognitive Ability and Experiences of Vaginal, Oral, and Anal Sex in the United States

Abstract

Few studies have investigated the sexual development of populations with low cognitive abilities in the United States. This article examines the relationship between cognitive ability and various sexual experiences from adolescence (ages 12 to 18) to early adulthood (ages 28 to 34). Data were from 13,845 respondents interviewed at Waves I and IV of the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent to Adult Health (Add Health), a probability sample of adolescents in the United States followed from adolescence to adulthood. Adjusted logistic regression models were used to study relationships between cognitive ability, approximated by the Add Health Picture Vocabulary Test (AHPVT), and experiences of vaginal, oral, and anal sex. After controlling for biological sex, age, race/ethnicity, and socioeconomic status (SES), individuals in the lowest cognitive ability group had significantly lower odds of experiencing each type of sex than those in the average ability group. Although individuals in the highest cognitive ability group had significantly lower odds of experiencing vaginal intercourse than those in the average ability group, this association did not remain significant when analyses were stratified by biological sex. These differences in experiences have implications for future health and warrant further study to understand policy implications for sexual health services and education.

Acknowledgments

This research used data from Add Health, a program project directed by Kathleen Mullan Harris and designed by J. Richard Udry, Peter S. Bearman, and Kathleen Mullan Harris at University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and funded by grant P01-HD31921 from the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, with cooperative funding from 23 other federal agencies and foundations. Special acknowledgment is due Ronald R. Rindfuss and Barbara Entwisle for assistance in the original design. Information on how to obtain the Add Health data files is available on the Add Health website (http://www.cpc.unc.edu/addhealth).

Funding

This research received support from the Population Research Infrastructure Program awarded to the Carolina Population Center (P2C HD050924) at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill by the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development. Effort by Halpern was supported by a Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development grant (R01-HD057046, C. T. Halpern, principal investigator).

Additional information

Funding

This research received support from the Population Research Infrastructure Program awarded to the Carolina Population Center (P2C HD050924) at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill by the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development. Effort by Halpern was supported by a Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development grant (R01-HD057046, C. T. Halpern, principal investigator).