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. 2019 Sep 16;179(11):1551–1558. doi: 10.1001/jamainternmed.2019.3500

Table 1. Sociodemographic Characteristics of US Women Aged 18 to 44 Years According to Forced vs Voluntary Sexual Initiation.

Characteristic Sexual Initiation, % P Value
Forced Voluntary
Unweighted No. 993 12 317
Age, mean (95% CI), y 32.6 (31.8-33.3) 31.4 (31.2-31.6) .003
Age at first sexual encounter, mean (95% CI), y 15.6 (15.3-16.0) 17.4 (17.3-17.5) .003
First sexual partner/assailant mean age, mean (95% CI), y 27.0 (24.8-29.2) 21.0 (20.6-21.3) <.001
Age group at first sexual encounter, y
≤10 6.8 0.1 <.001
11-14 29.0 12.2
15-17 39.0 48.1
≥18 25.3 39.5
Race/ethnicity
White 65.3 74.7 <.001
Black 20.7 15.8
Other 13.8 9.5
Poverty level or below 35.1 24.9 <.001
Born outside the United States 21.5 16.1 .01
Language spoken
English 88.4 89.7 .59
Spanish 8.9 7.7
Other 2.7 2.6
Marital status
Married 34.2 45.2 <.001
Widowed 0.5 0.6
Divorced 14.1 8.6
Separated 7.3 3.4
Never married 43.8 42.2
Educational level
Less than high school 14.6 10.3 .002
High school or equivalent 28.0 25.1
Some college 33.5 32.9
College or beyond 23.9 31.7
Received cash assistance in the past year 14.8 9.8 .001
Family structure
No children 39.6 39.9 .002
2 Parents with children 37.7 44.2
Single parent with children 22.8 16.0
Characteristics in childhood
Did not always live with 2 parents 51.7 41.8 <.01
Ever lived in foster care 11.3 5.9
Age of mother at birth, y
≤18 18.7 16.5 .12
19-24 54.5 55.1
25-29 17.7 19.7
≥30 6.7 7.7
Unknown 2.3 1.0
Mother's educational level
Less than high school 26.6 21.7 .02
High school 26.2 30.3
Some college 24.5 24.5
College degree or beyond 20.7 22.6
Unknown 2.1 0.9