It is widely believed that people can remember the age at which they
first had sexual intercourse. Questions about age at onset are routinely asked
in population sexual behaviour surveys and in clinical history-taking.
However, there are limited test–retest data, especially with regard to
individual differences in unreliable recall. In this study, telephone
interviews and follow-ups an average of 15 months later were conducted with
570 non-virgin subjects aged between 28 and 73 years. Test–retest correlations
for recalled age at first intercourse were 0·85 for females and 0·91 for
males. Consistency was slightly
lower among older people and women with a history of sexual abuse. There were
no significant
associations between consistency of recall and measures of personality,
educational background or history of alcohol dependence and depression.