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In the ongoing battle to reduce teenage pregnancies and the spread of STDs, including HIV, the focus of prevention efforts has widened over the past few years, responding to research that revealed the surprising contribution of adult men to the problem. This concern caught the attention of policymakers, resulting in the expansion of statutory rape laws in California and Florida, and the inclusion of similar language within the 1996 federal welfare reform bill. While seen by many educators, health professionals and lawmakers as a promising new direction for prevention efforts, it appears that the role of adult men in adolescent childbearing may not be as compelling as originally believed. However, Clark et al. (1997) recently published a study stating that female adolescents, whose first sexual relationship is with a male 3 or more years older, are at higher risk for acquiring HIV. Reporting data on 14-17 year old African-American and Hispanic teenagers, the study, entitled “Sexual Initiation with Older Male Partners and Subsequent HIV Risk Behavior Among Female Adolescents,” is a signal that further analysis of adult male sexual relations with minors is important for future prevention efforts.
There has long existed an assumption that teenage pregnancies result from sexual liaisons between adolescents. In their 1995 article entitled “How Old Are U.S. Fathers,” Landry and Forrest blame this assumption in part on the poor quality of national data on teenage mothers and their partners. Using 1988 data from the National Maternal and Infant Health Study (NMIHS), these researchers concluded that in actuality, half of the fathers of babies born to 15-17 year old women were age twenty or older. In addition, the recent Clark et al. (1997) report reveals HIV rates are significantly higher among female adolescents than males. While this statistic is likely due in part to the more efficient transmission of the virus from males to females, it also supports the reported prevalence of adult versus peer liaisons with female teens.
These findings extend the perceived responsibility for adolescent pregnancy far beyond the decisions of adolescents, and increase the appeal of targeting the adult males who appear to be “preying” on America’s youth. According to the Clark et al. (1997) article, older male sexual partners place teenage females at greater risk for HIV infection for several reasons. Older men are more likely to be infected with HIV, to have had multiple partners, and to have had more experience using drugs. The age difference can lead to a power differential which can hinder teenage women from negotiating condom use. Similarly, trust and admiration for her older partner is likely to lead a young woman to assume that he will take responsibility for avoiding the potentially negative health outcomes of sexual relations.
These dangers, and the statistics that make them even more real, indicate that this is a serious public health concern that warrants considerable attention. However, a closer look reveals that some statistics might misrepresent the issue. Lindberg et al. (1997) argue that the pattern of fathers being slightly older than mothers follows current societal norms. They analyzed the 1988 NMIHS data, comparing not absolute ages, but the relationships between teenage women and men at least five years older. They assert that this perspective is preferable because the proportion of teenage mothers whose partners were at least five years older, was considerably lower than the proportion whose partner was at least 20 years of age. Socially and legally, the taboo associated with statutory rape pertains more to the difference in ages than it does to the numerical threshold between adolescence and adulthood. Although births to the youngest mothers (ages 14-15) were disproportionately fathered by adult men, overall only 8% of births to 15-19 year old women resulted from sex with men who were at least five years older (Lindberg et al., 1997).
Does this mean that the recent attention and stiffer penalties given to adult males fathering adolescent pregnancies has been misdirected? Not exactly. In fact, it has the potential to offer a greater understanding of the phenomenon of sexual relations between female minors and adult men. The research revealed that teenage women engaging in relationships with older men have more behavioral problems and earlier onset of sexual activity than their counterparts in peer relationships (Males, 1993). The data also showed that the relationships between teen mothers and their adult male partners are closer and more ongoing than those of their peers with similar age partners (Lindberg et al., 1997). Both of these findings support the notion put forth by some of the researchers: that teenage women are seeking older partners as a means of escape from harsh economic and/or social environments.
It might be that the involvement of adult males in the problem of adolescent pregnancy is more a symptom of alternative motivations than a causative factor. As Lindberg et al.(1997) point out, even if all births to teens with adult fathers were somehow prevented, “the net impact on teenage fertility and on nonmarital birthrates would be quite small.” Consequently, the expansion of statuatory rape laws will likely do little to reduce the rate of adolescent childbearing. While this focus has not proven to be the key to successful prevention, it has certainly succeeded in generating valuable research and awareness around the issue. The researchers seem to agree that the most appropriate programs and policies are those which are broad-based and aim to improve the lives of teenage women via economic opportunities and academic achievement, while also considering deeply rooted issues such as abuse and poverty (Males, 1993). The Clark et al. (1997) study concluded that interventions need to teach communication and negotiation skills that will encourage self-protective behaviors, while similarly challenging the adolescents’ trust that older male partners are consistently practicing equally self-protective behaviors. Addressing these harsh realities appears to be an essential step in reducing the rate of adolescent births fathered by men of any age.
Sources: Clark, L., Miller, K., & Moore, J. (1997). Sexual initiation with older male partners and subsequent HIV risk behavior among female adolescents. Family Planning Perspectives, 29(5), 212-214.
Landry, D.J., & Forrest, J.D. (1995). How old are U.S. fathers? Family Planning Perspectives, 27(4), 159-161 & 165.
Lindberg, L.D., Sonenstein, F.L., Ku, L., & Martinez, G. (1997). Age differences between minors who give birth and their adult partners. Family Planning Perspectives, 29(2), 61-66.
Males, M. (1993). School-age pregnancy: Why hasn’t prevention worked? Journal of School Health, 63(10), 429-432.
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