Age at Menarche and the Timing of First Sexual Intercourse.

Gladys M. Martinez , National Center for Health Statistics

Using data from the 2011-2015 National Survey of Family Growth, I examine the relationship between age at menarche and timing of first sexual intercourse. I calculate Kaplan-Meier survival estimates to construct box-plots of the distribution of age at menarche and the probability of menarche by each age. Then I calculate estimates of the probability of first sexual intercourse by age at menarche. These data suggest that in 2011-2015 there was a correlation between age at first sexual intercourse and age at menarche. This analysis will shed light on the current distribution of age at menarche in the U.S., the relationship between age at menarche and timing of first sexual intercourse, and whether this has changed over time.

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 Presented in Session 1. Fertility, Family Planning, Sexual Behavior, & Reproductive Health 1