Teenagers who make "virginity pledges" to abstain from sexual intercourse until marriage have similar rates of sexually transmitted diseases as teens who have not committed to remain abstinent, according to a study presented on Tuesday at the 2004 National STD Prevention Conference in Philadelphia, the AP/Long Island Newsday reports. Peter Bearman, sociology department chair at Columbia University, and Hannah Bruckner of Yale University, who co-authored the study, used data from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health, which is funded by the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development and CDC (Straziuso, AP/Long Island Newsday, 3/9). The study examined a nationally representative sample of 12,000 teenagers who entered the study when they were between the ages of 12 and 18. Researchers asked participants whether they had taken a virginity pledge and if they had engaged in sexual intercourse and tested them for three common STDs: chlamydia, gonorrhea and trichomoniasis, according to the New York Times (Altman, New York Times, 3/10).

Primary Findings
Approximately 99% of teenagers who did not pledge abstinence until marriage had sex before marriage, according to the study (AP/Long Island Newsday, 3/9). About 88% of participants who had pledged to remain virgins until marriage reported having sexual intercourse before marriage. However, teenagers who pledged to remain virgins had sexual intercourse an average of 18 months later than teens who did not take a pledge. In addition, by age 23, 50% of individuals who had made pledges as teenagers were married, compared with 25% of individuals who did not make a virginity pledge, according to the study (Altman, New York Times, 3/10). Among white teens who pledged virginity until marriage, 2.8% tested positive for an STD, compared with 3.5% of white teens who did not pledge. Black teens who pledged virginity had an STD rate of 18.1%, compared with 20.3% for black teens who did not pledge, and Hispanic teens who pledged to remain virgins had an STD rate of 6.7%, compared with 8.6% among Hispanic teens who did not pledge, according to the AP/Newsday. The differences between STD rates of pledgers and non-pledgers were not statistically significant, according to Bearman (AP/Long Island Newsday, 3/9).

Additional Findings
Bearman and Bruckner said that teenagers who pledged to remain virgins until marriage were less likely than other teens to have undergone STD testing and know their STD status, which could increase their risk of STD transmission to sexual partners, according to the Times. For male pledgers, 5.2% were tested for STDs, compared with 9.1% of non-pledgers; 14% of female teens who took a virginity pledge were tested for STDs, compared with 28% of teen girls who did not take a pledge (New York Times, 3/10). Also, virginity pledgers were "much less likely" to use contraception the first time they had sex, Reuters reports. Only 40% of male teenagers who took a pledge reported having used a condom in the past year, compared with 59% of those who did not take a virginity pledge, according to Reuters. For female teens, 47% of pledgers reported having used a condom in the previous year, compared with 55% of teens who did not pledge. Teens who pledged to remain virgins until marriage also averaged fewer sexual partners, according to Reuters (Hurdle, Reuters, 3/9).

Conclusions
Bearman said that telling teens to "'just say no,' without understanding risk or how to protect oneself from risk, turns out to create greater risk." He added that he did not know if teens who broke their pledges "did so initially with their fiances or with others" because the data had not been analyzed yet, according to the Times. However, he added, "After they break their pledge, the gates are open, and they catch up" (New York Times, 3/10). Bearman said, "These [virginity pledge] movements that are ignorant of social science research defeat the purpose they set out to solve" (Reuters, 3/9). He also said, "It's difficult to simultaneously prepare for sex and say you're not going to have sex," adding, "It is the combination of hidden sex and unsafe sex that creates a world where people underestimate the risk of STDs."

Reaction
Dorothy Mann, executive director of the Family Planning Council, a reproductive health services group, said, "It's a tragedy if we withhold from these kids information about how not to get STDs or not to get pregnant" (AP/Long Island Newsday, 3/9). Sexuality Information and Education Council of the United States President and CEO Tamara Kreinin said, "This study clearly demonstrates that it is critical for us to provide all our young people with open, honest and medically accurate information to protect themselves against STDs." She added, "It is time for lawmakers, including President Bush, to stop using young people for political purposes and stand up for their health and futures" (SIECUS release, 3/9). Pat Fagan, who researches family and cultural issues for the Heritage Foundation, said that the study's finding that the pledges delayed sex and led to fewer partners "shows the power of the pledges by themselves," adding, "It also shows that alone, a one-time pledge is not enough. Anyone connected with the abstinence movement would never say it's enough" (AP/Long Island Newsday, 3/9). Jimmy Hester, spokesperson for "True Love Waits," a campaign launched in 1993 by the Southern Baptist Convention to promote abstinence until marriage, said that the group had followed the study for seven years but had not heard the latest findings, according to the Times. He added that the he was concerned about the results "because we're not following up on pledges well enough," saying, "Signing a pledge card does not mean you are magically protected" from STDs. Ronald Valdiserri, deputy director of the CDC's National Center for HIV, STD and TB Prevention, said, "The study is not the final answer," adding, "It points to the need for additional research in this area to identify effective interventions and to understand what makes them work" (New York Times, 3/10).

CNN's "Paula Zahn Now" reported on the study. The segment includes comments from Dr. Drew Pinsky (Zahn, "Paula Zahn Now," CNN, 3/9). The complete transcript is available online.