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Press Release | 17. March 2005

After the Promise: The STD Consequences of Adolescent Virginity Pledges

In a study released March 18, 2005 in the Journal of Adolescent Health, Hannah BrÃ¼ckner and Peter Bearman report new results that show that young adults who took virginity pledges as adolescents are as likely to be infected with STDs as those who did not take virginity pledges. BrÃ¼ckner, Assistant Professor of Sociology at Yale University, and Bearman, Professor of Sociology at Columbia University were surprised by these findings. "Pledgers have fewer sex partners than non-pledgers, they start having sex later, and they marry earlier, so they should have lower STD rates, but they don't." One reason is that sexually active pledgers were less likely to use condoms at first sex than non-pledgers. Because most pledgers are sexually active (in fact, 88% of the sexually active pledgers have sex before marriage), lower rates of condom use increases STD risk. Just as important, pledgers were less likely to seek and obtain STD-related health care, possibly because of increased stigmatization or misperception of infection risk among pledgers. Because pledgers are less likely to be diagnosed and treated for STD infections, they may be more likely to have those infections for longer periods than non-pledgers. BrÃ¼ckner says, "if pledgers have infections for longer periods of time than non-pledgers, this is a reason for concern." BrÃ¼ckner and Bearman note that even though pledgers used condoms at the same rate as non pledgers at the time of their last interview, the fact that they were less likely to use condoms earlier could be why their STD rates remain high since they are less likely to be diagnosed. "Putting a condom on after getting an infection does not make the infection go away."

Pledging may lead some young adults to engage in alternative sexual behaviors in order to preserve their virginity. Among virginsÂ—those who have not had vaginal intercourseÂ—male pledgers are four times more likely to have anal sex; male and female pledgers are six times more likely to have oral sex than non-pledgers. Condom use for anal sex is very low; for oral almost non-existent. Thus virgin pledger engagement in riskier behavior may be a factor in higher than expected STD rates.

Pledgers who are married have the same STD rates as non-pledgers who are married. Marriage does not cause STDs; unprotected sex does. Knowing how to protect oneself from STDs is important. Since most adolescents and young adults will have sex, it is important that public health policies are designed to help young people gain the information they need to protect themselves, and others

Hannah BrÃ¼ckner can be reached at: 203-432-3793, or by email at hannah.brueckner@yale.edu. Peter Bearman can be reached at 212-854-3094, or by email at psb17@columbia.edu.