Waiting to have sex linked to lower depression risk later in life
Waiting until older ages to have sex for the first time is associated with a lower risk of adult depression. A new study indicates this reduced risk is largely driven by higher educational achievement and increased household income.
A new study published in The Journal of Sexual Medicine reveals that individuals who wait until their late teenage years or early adulthood to have sexual intercourse tend to have a lower risk of developing depression as adults. While depression is influenced by a mix of biological, environmental, and social factors, economic hardship is a known contributor to depressive symptoms.
Researchers from Guizhou University of Traditional Chinese Medicine in China, led by Kaifa Tang, aimed to understand how the timing of a person's first sexual experience impacts their mental health. They analyzed data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, which includes records from 4,907 adult participants surveyed between 2013 and 2016.
The survey measured participants' ages of first sexual intercourse, depressive symptoms, and various personal characteristics like age, sex, race, education level, and household income. The researchers found that people who reported having sex at older ages generally reported fewer depressive symptoms. This association was stronger among women than men, even after accounting for income, education, and health behaviors.
Using a statistical tool called Mendelian randomization, the researchers confirmed that genetic tendencies for a later sexual debut were associated with a lower risk of depression. These genes were also linked to higher educational achievement, higher household income, and lower likelihood of smoking, suggesting that these factors may explain the connection between delayed sexual debut and reduced depression risk.
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