Sexual Consent at First-Time Intercourse: Retrospective Reports from University Students in Canada and the United States.

OBJECTIVES

We investigated whether the context of first-time intercourse (FTI) was associated with internal consent feelings and external consent communication at FTI.

METHOD: College students (n = 1020) from universities in Canada and the United States retrospectively reported on their FTI.

RESULTS

Using structural equation modeling, we found that the context of participants' FTI (e.g. age, contraceptive use) predicted their internal consent, which in turn predicted their external consent communication.

CONCLUSIONS

Sexual health education should highlight these contextual correlates of sexual consent at FTI. Despite the cultural primacy of FTI, consent should also be prioritized for other early sexual experiences.