Pa02Dec27a Stress & virginity

http://news.independent.co.uk/world/science_medical/story.jsp?story=346248

Early loss of virginity 'leads to less stress'

By Roger Dobson 27 October 2002

The earlier a woman has sex, the less stressed she is as an adult, scientists have discovered. When they questioned women about their sexual history and tested them for levels of a stress hormone, they found that the lowest levels were among those who had sex the earliest. A similar but smaller effect was found for men.

In the research, carried out at the University of Tübingen in Germany, volunteers completed questionnaires, and had their saliva tested for levels of cortisol before and after they were exposed to the stresses of preparing to speak in public to strangers for five minutes and perform mental arithmetic aloud. The body secretes increased amounts of cortisol in response to stress. Stress levels were up to 60 per cent lower in women who lost their virginity before their 18th birthday.

The scientists, who report their findings in the journal Psychoneuroendocrinology this week, say an early age for first sex might be a marker for a genetic predisposition to react less to stress. Another theory is that a woman who has sex early in life is likely to have more frequent intercourse which itself results in a reduced response to stress.