Dr. Cynthia Robbins from the pediatrics department at Indiana University led the first national study of teen masturbation. The researchers analyzed the results from over 800 American teens ranging in age from 14 to 17 and found the following results:

• Across 14- to 17-year-olds, about 74 percent of boys and 48 percent of girls reported engaging in masturbation.
• Among males, masturbation increased with age: Just 63 percent of younger boys reported masturbating at least once, but the figure increased to 80 percent among 17-year-olds.
• In females, the percentage also rose with age from 43 percent for 14-year-olds to 58 percent for 17-year-olds.