Sexuality and the life cycle: childhood and adolescence - a summary of chapter 9 of Understanding human sexuality by Hyde and DeLamater

Sexology
Chapter 9
Sexuality and the life cycle: childhood and adolescence

Lifespan development: development from birth through old age.

Data sources

Scientific data available on the sexual behaviour of children and adolescents

• Kinsey report
• NHSLS

Responses on surveys may be problematic

• The data on childhood sexual behaviour may be subject to errors that result from adults being asked to recall things that happened a very long time ago
• An alternative would be to interview children about their sexual behaviour or even to observe their sexual behaviour
  Few researchers have done this
  • Many studies of adolescent sexual behaviour have been done

The studies of child and adolescent sexual behaviour have mostly involved surveys, which have used either questionnaires or interviews.
Virtually no researchers have made systematic, direct observations of children’s sexual behaviour, although some have asked parents to report on their children’s sexual behaviour.

Infancy and the preschool years (birth to 4 years)

Sigmund Freud first expressed the notion that children – in fact, even infants – have sexual urges and engage in sexual behaviour.

The capacity of the human body to show a sexual response is present from birth.
Reflex erections occur in male fetus for several month before birth and vaginal lubrication has been found in baby girls in the 24 hours after birth.

The first intimate relationship that most children experience is with their mother and their fathers.
The mother-infant relationship involves a good deal of physical contact and engages the infant’s tactile, olfactory, visual, and auditory senses.

Attachment

Attachment: a psychological bond that forms between an infant and the mother, the father, or other caregiver.
The quality of attachment can be very important to the child’s capacity for later sexual and emotional relationships.
The bond begins in the hours immediately following birth and continues throughout the period of infancy.
It is facilitated by cuddling and other forms of physical contact.

Adults’ styles of romantic attachment are similar to the kinds of attachment they remember having with their parents in childhood.

Self-stimulation

Infants have been observed fondling their own genitals.

• Between 6 and 12 months, infants discover their genitals by unintentionally touching them
• By 15 to 19 months, some boys and girls increase their genital touching

Orgasms form self-stimulation are possible even at this early age, although before puberty boys are not capable of ejaculation.

Child-child encounters

Infants and young children are very self-centred or egocentric.
Even when they seem to be playing together with another child, they may be simply playing alongside the other child.

By the age of 4 or 5 children have become more social and some sexual play occurs.
Boys and girls may hug each other or hold hands in imitation of adults.
‘Playing doctor’ can be a popular game at this age.

Some children first learn about heterosexual behaviour by seeing their parents engaging in sexual intercourse, witnessing the primal scene.
This experience is not damaging.

Sexual knowledge and interests

In the preschool years, children become interested in sexuality and begin to develop a simple understanding of some aspects of sexuality, although their knowledge is typically vague.
They become interested in different postures for urinating.
Children at this age are very affectionate and enjoy hugging and kissing their parents.

By about 5 years of age, children have formed a concept of marriage, or at least of its nongenital aspects.

Children’s sex play at this age is motivated largely by curiosity and its part of the general learning experiences of childhood.

Knowledge about gender

By age of 2,5 or 3, children know what gender they are, the first step in developing a gender identity.
Awareness of being male or female motivates them to be like other members of that group.
At ages 4 to 6, ideas about gender are very rigid. As children gain experience, these gender believes become more flexible.

A small number of children, perhaps 1 or 2 out of 2000, do not identify with the gender assigned to them at birth.
In them, cross-gender behaviour may be evident as early as age 2.

Childhood (5 to 11 years)

For many, sexual awakening does not occur until adolescence, but for others it is a very real and poignant part of childhood.
Adrenarche: in childhood, the maturation of the adrenal glands, resulting in increased secretion of androgens. Around 8 to 10 years of age.
Some sex hormone action occurs in childhood, well before adolescence.

Masturbation

During childhood, more and more children gain experience with masturbation.
Generally boys start masturbating earlier than girls, a trend that is even more pronounced in adolescence.

Boys and girls tend to learn about masturbation in different ways

• Boys are typically told by their male peers, see their peers doing it, or read about it
• Girls typically learn about masturbation through accidental self-discovery

Heterosexual behaviour

There is generally little heterosexual behaviour during childhood.
This is mainly because boys and girls divide themselves into groups rigidly by gender.

Children commonly hear about heterosexual intercourse for the first time during this period.

There is some boy-girl contact.

• Kissing and hugging
• Showing genitals
• Another child touching their genitals

Between ages 6 and 10.
For some children, heterosexual activity occurs in a coercive, incestuous relationship.

Same-gender sexual behaviour

Same-gender sexual activity is a normal part of the sexual development of children.
Gender-segregated social organization: a form of social organization in which males play and associate with other males, and females play and associate with other females; the genders are separate from each other.
Given that children are spending time mainly with members of their own gender, sexual exploring at this age is likely to be with partners of the same gender.

Sex knowledge and interests

Heteronormativity: the belief that heterosexuality is the only pattern that is normal and natural.
Children learn very early that male-female pairings are the norm.

The sexualization of children

Sexualization: a process in which a person is

• Valued only for sex appeal or behaviour;
• Held to a standard that equates physical attractiveness with being sexy
• Sexually objectified
• Sexuality is inappropriately imposed on the person.

Experts are concerned that sexualization may lead to reduced self-esteem and body dissatisfaction because one does not meet the cultural standard of sexy appearance.
Cognitive performance can be impaired as well because of distracting thoughts resulting from sexualization.

Adolescence (12 to 18 years)

A tension exists in thinking about adolescent sexuality

• Sexuality is a normative part of adolescent development and it plays an important positive role in growth and development
• Not all adolescent sex is good sex

A surge of sexual interest occurs around puberty and continues throughout adolescence.
This heightened sexuality may be caused by

• Bodily changes and a awareness of them
• Rises in levels of sex hormones
• Increased cultural emphasis on sex

Testosterone level has an impact on the sexuality of adolescent boys and girls.
Social psychological variables then interact with the biological effects, in some cases magnifying them and in some cases suppressing them.

Masturbation

There is a sharp increase in the incidence of masturbation for boys between ages 13 and 15.
The increase in girls’ masturbation behaviour is much more gradual than for boys and continues past adolescence.

Attitudes toward masturbation

Attitudes toward masturbation underwent a dramatic change across the 20^th century.
It was once believed to cause everything from warts to insanity.
They are now considerably positive. It is even a from of sex therapy.

Same-gender sexual behaviour

Experts believe that adolescence is the period during which one’s believes develop and become stabilized.
Sexual minority youth report awareness of attraction to persons of the same gender as early as age 10.
The process of self-identification as a sexual minority person typically occurs between 14 and 21 and occurs at somewhat younger ages for boys.

Adolescence is also the period during which gender identity undergoes substantial development.
Most youth experience gender intensification.

Heterosexual behaviour

Heterosexual behaviour gains prominence and becomes a major sexual outlet.
Generally there is a progression beginning with kissing, then petting, moving on to oral sex, and then to coitus.
These behaviours tend to follow a sexual script.
Variations on the normative sequence can occur based on factors such as social class and ethnicity.

First intercourse is a momentous experience for many people.
In many cultures, it is a symbol of having reached adulthood.

Patterns of adolescent sexuality differ substantially in different cultures around the world.
In many countries, the incidence of sexual intercourse in adolescence has risen in the past several decades.

Too early sex

Sometimes sex occurs to early.
Sex at age 15 or early is ‘early’ sex and it carries a number of risks

• Those who engage in intercourse early are more likely not to use a condom and to have sex with more than one partner
  • Increased risk for teen pregnancies and sexually transmitted infections

Factors that predict engaging in early sex

• Living with other than both biological parents
• Less parental monitoring
• Parents with less education
• Poor relationship with parents
• More advanced physical development
• More involvement in dating
• More television viewing
• More permissive attitudes about sexual intercourse

These same factors also tend to predict a higher number of sexual partners.

Romantic relationships

Adolescent sexual activity often occurs within the context of a romantic relationship.
These relationships can contribute to psychological development, but can also have negative outcomes such as dating violence.

Low-quality relationships

• Antagonism
• High levels of conflict
• Controlling behaviour
• Linked to lower academic performance and poor emotional health

High-quality relationships

• Supportiveness
• Emotional intimacy
• Can contribute to an adolescent’s feelings of self-worth

Adolescent relationships provide the context in which the individual develops the skills and learns the scripts needed to sustain long-term intimate relationships.

Internet use, risk, and sexting

New technologies have had a major impact on the ways in which developments in adolescents occur.
Purposes of maintaining an online profile

• Keep up with friends
  Stimulates self-disclosure
  But, personal information can put the poster at risk.
  Self-disclosure enhances relationship quality and this improve personal well-being
• To meet people or make new friends

Sexting: the sending of sexually charged messages or images by cell phone or other electronic media.
It is not normative behaviour for adolescents.

The consequences can be serious for those who engage in sexting

• The federal law defines nude photos and videos of persons under 18 as child pornography
  A person who produces such images or distributes them is manufacturing and distribution child pornography
• It can be unwanted be exposed

Moral panic: an extreme social response to the believe that the moral condition of society is deteriorating at a rapid pace.
But, sexting and serious outcomes are very uncommon.
Much less common than the media hype suggests.
Moral panics are undesirable because

• They create unnecessary fears and often lead to attempts to control people’s behaviour
• They divert attention from more serious social problems

The college years

Masturbation

Almost all college men and the great majority of college women masturbate.

Patterns of heterosexual behaviour

Patterns of sexuality can be really diverse for people of this age.

Casual sex

Hooking up: a sexual encounter that involves people who are strangers or brief acquaintances, without an expectation of forming a committed relationship; the behaviour itself may range from making out to oral sex or intercourse.

Much hookup sex is bad sex.

• It is not pleasurable or
• It is actually coercive

Alcohol use if frequently associated with hooking up.

• Women who were drinking prior to their hookup are more likely to be unhappy about the decision to hook up.
• A greater number of drinks was associated with engaging in vaginal or anal sex

Often there is a discrepancy between what people want and what they get in such encounters, and the lack of emotional connection can leave some feeling lonely.

A double standard exists in hookup culture.

There are specific varieties of casual sex within the generic category

• One-night stand
• Friends with benefits
  A situation in which tow people are friends occasionally have sex with each other
• Fuck buddy
  A partner with whom one regularly engages in sexual activity but not other types of activity and is not a friend
• Booty call
  A communication to a person who is not a relationship partner, conveying an urgent request for sexual activity, perhaps including intercours

Casual sex is associated with negative mental health outcomes.

• Reduced psychological well-being
• Increased psychological distress

The after-effects of casual sex may depend on the circumstances in which it occurs.

Same-gender sexual behaviour

At these ages, people can show distinct changes in their sexual identify, attractions, and behaviour over time.

How sexuality aids in development

Sexuality is an integral part of our psychological development.