For years, early sexual debut in younger people has been demonized for its hostile effects on sexual health and increased risk of negative outcomes like unplanned pregnancy, STIs, sexual exploitation and abuse. A recent study goals to view early sexual interaction in a distinct light.

The study, published within the Journal of Sexual Medicine, was led by Diana Peragine of the University of Toronto Mississauga. She reportedly wanted to search out if there have been any positive outcomes of early sexual experiences in adults. The study was capable of correlate early sexual experiences with higher sexual functioning later in life.

“Research has traditionally solid sexual activity as a teenager’s sexual debut and focused on the general public health concerns that it raises—really its onset, its causes, and its consequences as an issue behavior not unlike adolescent drinking and drug use,” noted Peragine. “In consequence, there’s this long body of evidence linking an earlier sexual debut to hostile sexual health outcomes.

The scientists defined sexual debut as a broader term to incorporate other necessary sexual firsts in an individual’s life besides intercourse — namely first sexual contact, first sexual stimulation and first orgasm.

They then checked out the connection between these experiences and sexual functioning in maturity.

The research team found adults who had these first sexual experiences earlier had a better likelihood of higher sexual functioning later in maturity. And those that had delayed experiences were more likely to search out sexual difficulties in later life.

Peragine added that there isn’t any agreed universal definition for when a sexual debut may be deemed as early. Nonetheless, the common age for sexual activity was 17 years among the many study’s participants.

Within the study, 3,139 adults were surveyed to evaluate information like once they had their first sexual activity, sexual contact, sexual stimulation and orgasm. Participants were also asked in the event that they had faced any difficulties with orgasms, desire, arousal and sexual satisfaction within the previous 4 weeks.

“Those with an earlier sexual debut had fewer sexual difficulties in a lot of these domains, and due to this fact healthier sexual function,” Peragine said.

Peragine emphasized the importance of healthy sexual functioning as “a prerequisite for healthy sex — which must be pleasurable along with being secure and consensual”.

“It’s also a growing priority when defining and managing sexual health. It includes an absence of difficulties with desire, arousal and orgasm, as well an absence of pain during sex, and satisfaction with sexual intercourse,” she added.

The research team also found earlier exposure to experiences like an orgasm bolstered sexual interest and excitability.

Also, women tended to have these experiences years later than men did, based on the survey, and this delay might answer to the previous’s higher sexual desire and arousal disorders when put next to men.

Peragine hopes the study will reform sexual education —particularly abstinence-only education.

“Abstinence-only education . . . stresses that no sexuality is healthy sexuality for adolescents. Our findings not only contradict this view but (indicate) that efforts to delay sexual intercourse may carry a risk themselves,” she explained.

In response to her, abstinence-only education “might even be detrimental to young people’s sexual health in the long term — at the very least with respect to the capability for functional and healthy sex.”