Media Misinterpreted Study On Teen Virginity Pledges, WSJ Opinion Piece Says

Main Category: Sexual Health / STDs
Also Included In: Pediatrics / Children's Health;  Women's Health / Gynecology
Article Date: 07 Jan 2009 - 2:00 PST

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The release of a Johns Hopkins University study on the sexual behavior of teenagers who take virginity pledges was followed by "a chain reaction" in the media, whose interpretation of the study "just isn't true," Wall Street Journal columnist William McGurn writes in a opinion piece. McGurn writes, "Typical was the lead for the CBS News story: 'Teenagers who take virginity pledges are no less sexually active than other teens, according to a new study.'"

According to McGurn, the "only way" study author Janet Elise Rosenbaum "could reach such results was by comparing teens who take a virginity pledge with a very small subset of other teens: those who are just as religious and conservative as the pledge takers." He writes that Bernadine Healy -- former head of the Red Cross and NIH and current health editor for U.S. News and World Report -- was the "first to notice something lost in the translation." McGurn writes that Healy in her blog "pointed out that 'virginity pledging teens were considerably more conservative in their overall sexual behaviors than teens in general -- a fact that many media reports have missed cold.'" McGurn writes, "What [Healy] was getting at is that the pledge itself is not what distinguishes" teens who took the virginity pledge from most teenagers. According to McGurn, "The real difference is their more conservative and religious home and social environment."

Healy found that comparing both groups assessed in the study to "teens at large" reveals "striking" behavioral differences, McGurn writes. He says that these differences include that teens in the study have "less risky sex;" a lower likelihood of teen pregnancy; a lower likelihood of having friends who use drugs; and less premarital vaginal sex. According to McGurn, "When these teens lose their virginity, they tend to do so at age 21 -- compared to 17 for the typical American teen." He adds, "And very much overlooked, one out of four of these teens do in fact keep the pledge to remain chaste -- amid much cheap ridicule and just about zero support outside their homes or churches." He continues, "Most parents appreciate that a pledge of virginity -- a one-time event that might be made at an emotional moment in a teen's life -- is not some talisman that will magically shield their sons and daughters from the strong and normal desires that grow as they discover their sexuality." He adds, "For these parents, the good news here is that the striking behavioral differences between the average American teen and the two teen groups in this study show that homes and families still exert a powerful influence." McGurn concludes that this fact is "not something you're likely to read in the headlines" (McGurn, Wall Street Journal, 1/6).

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