Teen sex and depression

A recent article on LifeSiteNews titled "Sexually Active Teenage Girls "Twice As Likely" To Suffer From Depression" is as follows:

Research which appeared recently in the Journal of Health Economics has found that young girls who are sexually active often experience feelings of guilt, low self-esteem, regret and shame, and are far more likely to suffer from depression than those who remain chaste.

The study, by Joseph J. Sabia and Daniel I. Rees, of 14,000 adolescents aged between 14 and 17, used data from the U.S. government funded National Longitudinal Survey of Adolescent Health.

The study found that sexually active teen girls have more than double the rate of depression of those who are not sexually active - 19 percent compared to 9.2 percent.

The conclusion the study reached was that "sexually active female adolescents are at increased risk of exhibiting the symptoms of depression relative to their counterparts who are not sexually active."

Dr. Trevor Stammers, a lecturer on sexual ethics and chairman of the Christian Medical Fellowship in the UK, said the new study confirmed that most girls "retrospectively showed regret about early intercourse."

"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," Dr. Stammers said in a British Daily Mail report. "My experience is that, for girls, depression, regret and shame are very common."

Link to full text of this study, titled, "The effect of adolescent virginity status on psychological well-being".

Talk with all your kids about this research. If your teens have not become sexually active, discuss how this research can help them say no to sex until they are married. With your kids, read about sexual integrity and how this means more than simply waiting until marriage, but also includes a lifetime of sex the way that God intended it to be.

If your teen daughters have had sex, do they regret it? Have they had feelings of guilt, low self-esteem, regret and shame, or depression? If so, help them find counseling to heal the wounds caused by their sexual activity. With your kids, read about sexual integrity and how they can choose to not have sex again until they are married. Sex outside marriage is like any other sin: it can be forgiven and put in the past. 1 John 1:9 promises that if we confess our sins, that He will forgive us and cleanse us of all unrighteousness. This means He promises to cleanse us of sexual sin too. Your daughters do not need to label themselves as shameful if they confess and ask forgiveness from God.