| Table 1. Characteristics of and measures available in surveys of sexual and reproductive behavior in Sweden, France, Canada, Great Britain and the United States, mid-1990s | ||||||||||
| Country and survey | Characteristic | Measure of behavior | ||||||||
| Year of survey | Age-range | National sample | Sample size | Age | Method | |||||
| Males | Females | At first sex | At first birth | At first sex | Current use | At last sex | ||||
| Sweden | ||||||||||
| Two surveys in towns in | 1986 | 16-18 | No | 533* | na | X | ||||
| Northern Sweden | 1991 | 16-18 | No | 253 | 223 | X | X | |||
| National Swedish Survey | 1996 | 18-74 | Yes | 1,335 | 1,475 | X | X | |||
| Swedish Family Survey | 1992-1993 | 23-43 | Yes | 1,666 | 3,318 | X | ||||
| France | ||||||||||
| Survey of Sexual Behavior of Young People | 1994 | 15-17 | Yes | 3,340 | 2,838 | X | X | X | ||
| Survey of Sexual Behavior | 1992 | 18-49 | Yes | 8,951 | 11,104 | X | X | |||
| Survey on Families and Employment | 1994 | 20-49 | Yes | 1,941 | 2,944 | X | ||||
| Canada | ||||||||||
| General Social Survey | 1995 | >=15 | Yes | 3,743 | 4,166 | X | X | |||
| National Population Health Survey | 1996 | 15-49 | Yes | 21,310 | 22,834 | X | ||||
| Great Britain | ||||||||||
| National Survey of Sexual Attitudes and Lifestyles | 1990-1991 | 16-59 | Yes | 8,384 | 10,492 | X | X | X | X | |
| United States | ||||||||||
| National Survey of Family | 1995 | 15-44 | Yes | na | 10,847 | X | X | X | X | X |
| Growth (Cycle 5) | ||||||||||
| National Survey of Adolescent Males | 1995 | 15-19 | Yes | 1,729 | na | X | X | X | X | X |
| *Total sample size, not divided between males and females. Notes: na=not applicable. Order of countries in all tables is based on levels of birthrate (from lowest to highest). Analyses were carried out on data files, except for the following sources for Sweden, for which only published data could be used: Two surveys in towns in northern Sweden--Swedin G et al., Big changes in adolescent sexual behavior, Lakartidningen, 1994, 91(11):1083-1084 (in Swedish); and National Swedish Survey--Lewin B, ed., Sex in Sweden: On the Swedish Sexual Life, 1996, Stockholm: National Institute for Public Health, 1998, p. 11 (in Swedish). | ||||||||||
| Table 2. Birth, abortion and pregnancy rates and abortion ratio, by country, according to age-group, mid-1990s | ||||||||||||
| Country | Ages 15-19 | Ages 15-17 | Ages 18-19 | |||||||||
| Births per 1000 | Abortions per 1000 | Pregnancies per 1000 | Abortion ratio | Births per 1000 | Abortions per 1000 | Pregnancies per 1000 | Abortion ratio | Births per 1000 | Abortions per 1000 | Pregnancies per 1000 | Abortion ratio | |
| Sweden (1996) | 7.8 | 17.2 | 25.0 | 68.8 | 2.7 | 13.7 | 16.4 | 83.5 | 15.5 | 22.6 | 38.1 | 59.3 |
| France* (1995) | 10.0 | 10.2 | 20.2 | 50.5 | 3.5 | 6.8 | 10.3 | 66.0 | 20.0 | 15.2 | 35.2 | 43.2 |
| Canada (1995) | 24.5 | 21.2 | 45.7 | 46.4 | 13.6 | 13.8 | 27.4 | 50.4 | 40.0 | 32.2 | 72.2 | 44.6 |
| Great Britain† (1995) | 28.3 | 18.4 | 46.7 | 39.4 | 14.8 | 13.8 | 28.6 | 48.3 | 49.8 | 25.6 | 75.4 | 34.0 |
| United States (1996) | 54.4 | 29.2 | 83.6 | 34.9 | 33.8 | 19.0 | 52.8 | 36.0 | 86.0 | 44.9 | 130.9 | 34.3 |
| *Rates are adjusted to the young woman's age in completed years when the event occurred, to be comparable with other countries. Rates are not inflated for the underreporting of abortions. †Rates for Great Britain (which comprises England, Wales and Scotland) are calculated by combining data for these administrative areas. Notes: Pregnancy rates include births and induced abortions but do not include spontaneous abortions or miscarriages. The abortion ratio is the number of abortions per 100 pregnancies, excluding miscarriages. | ||||||||||||
Figure 1. Percentage of 20-24-year-old women who had a birth by ages 15, 18 and 20 |
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| Table 3. Percentage of adolescent females who ever had sexual intercourse, by age; percentage who had intercourse in the past three months; percentage of 20-24-year-olds who had sex before age 20, by age; and median age at first intercourse among 20-24 year-olds--all according to country | ||||||||
| Country | % ever had sex | % who had intercourse in past 3 months* | % who had sex before given age† | Median age at first sex† | ||||
| 15-19 | 15-17 | 18-19 | 15 | 18 | 20 | |||
| Sweden‡ (1996) | na | na | 80.3 | 78.7 | 12.2 | 65.2 | 85.6 | 17.1 |
| France (1992,1994) | 49.3§ | 37.9 | 67.1 | 63.9 | 7.4 | 50.1 | 82.5 | 18.0 |
| Canada (1996) | 50.9** | 37.4 | 70.9 | u | 9.1 | 53.4 | 75.2 | 17.3 |
| Great Britain (1990-1991) | 61.1†† | 40.9‡‡ | 78.5 | 62.2 | 4.1 | 63.8 | 84.8 | 17.5 |
| United States (1995) | 51.3 | 38.3 | 70.7 | 58.7 | 14.1 | 63.1 | 80.6 | 17.2 |
| *Among 18-19-year-olds. †Among 20-24-year-olds. ‡Data are available only for 18-19-year-olds; there are no recent data on sexual activity among 15-17-year-olds. (Source: 1996 National Swedish Population Survey.) §The estimate for 15-19-year-olds is synthetic, obtained by combining results on 15-17-year-olds from the 1994 Survey of Sexual Behavior of Young People and results on 18-19-year-olds from the 1992 Survey of Sexual Behavior, and applying these proportions to the 1995 populations for both age-groups. **The 1990 Health Promotion Survey, which had a much smaller sample, shows higher levels of teenage sexual activity (57.4% of 15-19-year-olds were ever sexually active). ††16-19-year-olds. ‡‡16-17-year-olds. Note: u=unavailable. | ||||||||
| Table 4. Percentage of sexually active adolescents with two or more sexual partners in the past year, by sex and by age, according to country | ||||||||
| Country | Women | Men | ||||||
| 15-19 | 18-19 | 16-19 | 15-17 | 15-19 | 18-19 | 16-19 | 15-17 | |
| Sweden (1996) | u | 42.8 | u | u | u | 31.3 | u | u |
| France (1992, 1994) | u | 12.8 | u | 31.0* | u | 28.8 | u | 45.3* |
| Cauda (1996) | 23.9 | 23.5 | u | 24.3 | 32.1 | 38.1 | u | 24.8 |
| Great Britain (1990-1991) | u | u | 30.1 | u | u | u | 45.5 | u |
| United States (1995) | 46.5 | 48.6 | 47.2 | 43.8 | 50.8 | 48.8 | 50.5 | 53.3 |
| *This value is not exactly comparable with the others because it is based on those who had first intercourse at least one year ago and who were sexually active in the past year. Note: u=unavailable. | ||||||||
| Table 5. Percentage distribution of ever sexually active women, by method used at first intercourse; and percentage distribution of currently sexually active women, by method used at last intercourse--all according to country | |||||||
| Measure and country | Age-group | Injectable/implant/IUD | Pill | Condom | Other methods* | No method | Total |
| Method used at first intercourse† | |||||||
| Sweden (1991) | 16-18 | 0.0 | 13.0 | 41.0 | 24.0 | 22.0 | 100.0 |
| France (1994) | 15-17 | 0.0 | 15.1 | 66.5 | 7.1 | 11.3 | 100.0 |
| Great Britain | |||||||
| (1990-1991) | 16-19 | 0.0 | 12.5 | 61.4 | 5.1 | 21.0 | 100.0 |
| United States (1995) | 15-19 | 0.5 | 8.0 | 62.8 | 4.0 | 24.7 | 100.0 |
| Method used at last intercourse | |||||||
| Sweden (1996‡) | 18-19 | 2.1 | 49.9 | 24.1 | 17.3 | 6.5 | 100.0 |
| France (1992, 1994§) | 15-19 | 0.0 | 59.2 | 28.4 | 0.6 | 11.9 | 100.0 |
| Canada (1995**) | 15-19 | †† | 63.7 | †† | 23.1‡‡ | †† | 100.0 |
| Great Britain(1990-1991§§) | 16-19 | 1.3 | 67.5 | 23.3 | 3.8 | 4.1 | 100.0 |
| United States (1995*†) | 15-19 | 9.3 | 32.5 | 33.0 | 5.2 | 20.0 | 100.0 |
| *Includes withdrawal, rhythm, diaphragm, cap, female condom and spermicides. †Among women who have ever had intercourse. ‡Excludes those who never had sex, those who did not have intercourse in the past three months and those not at risk for unintended pregnancy (pregnant, postpartum, seeking pregnancy, and infecund or sterile). §Estimated by applying distributions for 15-17-year-olds (1994) and 18-19-year-olds (1992) to estimated number sexually active in each age-group in 1995. Women who never had intercourse and those classified as "method not reported" or "no intercourse" were excluded from the base population. Women in other categories usually considered to be "not at risk of unintended pregnancy," such as those who were pregnant, trying to become pregnant and postpartum, were not identified and therefore could not be excluded. **Based on current contraceptive use data from the 1995 General Social Survey. Women who were not sexually active and those who were infecund or pregnant were excluded. ††Estimate does not meet Statistics Canada standards for size of denominator or numerator.‡‡This category is "any method other than the pill," and consists primarily of condom users. The proportions using methods other than the pill are based on too few cases to be shown separately. §§Based on women who were sexually active in the three months before interview. Women who were not at risk of being pregnant, being postpartum or trying to become pregnant were not identified and therefore could not be excluded. *†Method used at last intercourse during the three months before interview. Those who have never had sex, who did not have intercourse in the past three months and who were not at risk of unintended pregnancy (pregnant; two months or less postpartum; seeking pregnancy; and infecund or sterile) were excluded. Note: Women who reported more than one method were classified according to the most effective method they reported using. | |||||||
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© copyright 2001, The Alan Guttmacher Institute. |