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Social clock theory posits that off-time transitions, such as virginity loss, are often socially reproached and stigmatized. Research suggests, however, that reasons for virginity in adulthood are heterogeneous and that some emerging adult virgins (EAVs) are struggling socially. To guide the development of interventions tailored to this population, it is important to understand their difficulties. Through individual semi-structured interviews, this study explores the difficulties and disagreeable emotions experienced by 29 heterosexual virgins aged between 20 and 29. The data were analyzed using thematic analysis. Three main themes were identified: (a) difficulties related to society, (b) difficulties related to interpersonal relationships, and (c) disagreeable emotions experienced relative to late virginity. These results reveal that difficulties expressed by EAVs are intertwined and surprisingly, the most salient difficulty was related to lack of intimacy, rather than virginity per se. Theoretical and clinical implications are discussed, along with recommendations for future research.

This study examined how adolescents' sexual trajectories are associated with achievement of emerging adulthood developmental tasks (educational attainment, full-time employment, romantic involvement) and psychosocial outcomes (problems with alcohol, depression, self-esteem). Trajectories (identified in a previous report by Rossi, Poulin, & Boislard) based on annual number of sexual partners from ages 16 to 22 (i.e., abstainers, low-increasing, medium-increasing, multiple partners' trajectories) were compared on outcomes measured at age 22. Results showed that youths in the two less sexually active trajectories achieved higher levels of education than those in the two other trajectories, and females (but not males) in the multiple partners' group reported more problems with alcohol than all other participants. The absence of significant differences in depression and self-esteem suggests that the impact of adolescent sexual trajectories on psychological outcomes might take longer to emerge.