Virginity Lost, Satisfaction Gained? Physiological and Psychological Sexual Satisfaction at Heterosexual Debut (Report‪)‬

No sexual milestone carries as much cultural significance as virginity loss, which we define here as first vaginal intercourse. (1) The experience of first coitus is imbued with enormous personal and social meaning, representing an important rite of passage into sexual adulthood (Carpenter, 2005), as well as important connections to future sexual experiences and sexual health. First vaginal intercourse often symbolizes an important touchstone of adolescent development, one in which young people learn to engage in romantic or sexual relationships (O'Sullivan, Cheng, Harris, & Brooks-Gunn, 2007). Both the sexuality and public health fields have devoted considerable attention to the timing, context, and sequelae of adolescents' heterosexual initiation (Buhi & Goodson, 2007; Michels, Kropp, Eyre, & Halpern-Felsher, 2005; Rosenthal et al., 2001; Skinner, Smith, Fenwick, Fyfe, & Hendriks, 2008). We have seen great interest in who's "doing it," when, whether contraceptives are used, and the other kinds of sexual behaviors and relationships to which "losing it" leads. Far less attention has been devoted to the degree to which young people actually gain satisfaction from their first intercourse experience, let alone the different dimensions of that satisfaction (e.g., physical, emotional, and relational). Yet, initial sexual experiences that are positive, satisfying, and healthy have the potential to lay an important foundation for young people's sexual and relationship development (Blank, 2007; Wight et al., 2008), and thus deserve scholarly attention.