Sexual Activity and Contraceptive Use Among Teenagers in the United States, 2011-2015.

Objective-This report presents national estimates of sexual activity and contraceptive use among males and females aged 15-19 in the United States in 2011-2015, based on data from the National Survey of Family Growth (NSFG). For selected indicators, data are also presented from the 1988, 1995, 2002, and 2006-2010 NSFGs, and from the 1988 and 1995 National Survey of Adolescent Males, which was conducted by the Urban Institute. Methods-NSFG data were collected through in-person interviews with nationally representative samples of men and women aged 15-44 in the household population of the United States. NSFG 2011-2015 interviews were conducted between September 2011 and September 2015 with 20,621 men and women, including 4,134 teenagers (2,047 females and 2,087 males). The response rate was 72.5% for male teenagers and 73.0% for female teenagers. Results-In 2011-2015, 42.4% of never-married female teenagers (4.0 million) and 44.2% of never-married male teenagers (4.4 million) had had sexual intercourse at least once by the time of the interview (were sexually experienced). These levels of sexual experience among teenagers are similar to those seen in 2002 and 2006-2010 data. Longer-term trends, from 1988 to 2011-2015, show declines in the percentage of teenagers who were sexually experienced. Female teenagers' use of a method of contraception at first sex increased from 74.5% in 2002 to 81.0% in 2011-2015. Male teenagers' use of a condom at first sex increased from 70.9% in 2002 to 79.6% in 2006-2010 and remained stable at 76.8% in 2011-2015. Overall, in 2011-2015, 5.8% of female teenagers had used a long-acting reversible method (intrauterine device or implant). All material appearing in this report is in the public domain and may be reproduced or copied without permission; citation as to source, however, is appreciated.