A recent study has highlighted how a woman’s experience with masturbation during her teenage years can influence her intimate experiences later in life.
While I cannot speak for girls, as a boy experiencing puberty, I became quite familiar with my body during my teenage years. I would assume that this might also be true for those of the opposite gender.
The study, titled ‘‘Ménage À Moi’: An Analysis of Factors Associated with Masturbation Among Women,’ reports that one in 24 women did not engage in masturbation during adolescence.
Researchers from Portugal, Daniela Henriques, Pedro Alexandre Costa, and Ana Carvalheira, conducted an online survey to explore whether a woman’s understanding of her anatomy during her teenage years affects her sex life as an adult.
The survey included 469 cisgender adult women, aged between 18 and 78, with a median age of 27. Of these participants, 96 percent had masturbated at some point in their lives, beginning around the average age of 14.1 years.
Approximately three in four of these women had an average or low understanding of female genitalia. The most common frequency of masturbation reported was once a week, with one in four women indicating this habit.
The researchers found a connection between masturbation during teenage years and the sexual responses women experience later in life.
Those who frequently masturbated during adolescence reported having orgasms more often in adult sexual encounters, particularly during vaginal penetration.
Henriques, Costa, and Carvalheira suggest that adolescent masturbation allows women to become more acquainted with their bodies, enabling them to guide partners in achieving climax during sexual activities in adulthood.
The study also revealed that women living in urban areas reported higher masturbation frequencies compared to those from rural settings.
The researchers surmise that urban environments may provide more privacy than rural ones, and that city dwellers might be exposed to more progressive sexual views.
A conclusion of the study stated: “These results emphasize the importance of considering multiple factors in the understanding of masturbation, thus aiding in its destigmatization and intervention.”