Saturday, October 4, 2008

Teenage Sex and Depression


A controversial study reported in the Daily Mail has concluded that teenage girls who engage in sexual activity are considerably more prone to depression than those who remain virgins. The study, published in the US Journal of Health Economics, involved 14,000 teenagers and found that 19% of sexually active girls suffered from depression compared with 9.2% of virgins. Teenage boys suffered no noticeable difference in their mental health.

Dr Trevor Stammers, chairman of the Christian Medical Fellowship in the UK said that, in his experience, the majority of girls regret early sexual activity. He added: "It also shows as closely as we have been able to show so far that there is a genuine link between increased risk of depression and adolescent females engaging in sex."