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Despite significant declines in teen pregnancy since the mid-1990s, the United States still has the highest rate of teen pregnancy among industrialized nations, with especially high rates of unintended pregnancies among black and Latinx teens. 1, 2 Teen pregnancy prevention programs aim to reduce pregnancies among adolescents through reduced sexual activity and/or improved contraceptive use. Programs often target younger adolescents, 3, 4 introducing them to pregnancy prevention programming before they reach the average age of first sexual intercourse (17 years). 5 These programs generally aim to delay sexual initiation and prepare teens with the knowledge and skills to avoid pregnancy should they become sexually active. 6

Whether teens have “pre-sexual experience”—usually defined as having engaged in sexual touching or oral sex, but not vaginal sex—is an important consideration for teen pregnancy prevention program implementors and evaluators working with younger adolescents. Some previous research has found that adolescents with pre-sexual experience are more likely to initiate vaginal sex than those with no sexual experience. 7, 8, 9 Understanding the knowledge, attitudes, and intentions of adolescents with differing levels of sexual experience can help programs target their message to students.