Sexual Health of Adolescents and Young Adults in the United States, The Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation (2014)

This fact sheet from the Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation provides key data on adolescent sexual health, including sexual activity, prevalence of sexually transmitted infections (STIs), and access to sexual and reproductive health services. The information represents a compilation of data from various sources, including the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance System (2014), the Kaiser Women’s Health Survey (2013), and a number of other reports and peer-reviewed studies.

Despite a decreasing percentage of adolescents engaging in sexual activity, the rate of STIs among teens and young adults in the U.S. remained higher than in other developed nations. Among the significant findings, Kaiser found that:
Two-thirds of sexually active teen males and half of teen females said they had used a condom during the last time they had sexual intercourse;

• teens make up 25% of the sexually active population but account for nearly half of new STI cases;

• teens ages 15 to 19 and young adults ages 20 to 24 accounted for the most reported cases of chlamydia and gonorrhea in 2012; and

• over 34,000 young people ages 13 to 24 were estimated to be living with HIV in the U.S. in 2009, accounting for 26% of new HIV infections.