A new study from the Associated Press and MTV shows that young people (aged 13 to 24) “are generally very happy, optimistic about the future and have goals in place to achieve a happier tomorrow. “Happiness, according to the seven-month study that surveyed 1,280 young people, seems to wane in proportion to a rise in sexual activity:

Sexual activity leads to unhappiness for the youngest of young people. Among 13 to 17 year olds, those who were sexually active in the past seven days were much less likely to report being happy than those who hadnt been sexually active. But for those aged 18 to 24, those who were sexually active were about as happy as those who hadnt been sexually active.

And then there’s this:

Cell phones, the Internet and other technologies are integrally woven into the lives of todays young people and nearly two thirds say they make people happier. Half of those young people polled say the Internet alone helps them feel happier. And contrary to popular views of technology as a source of stress, many young people would be more stressed out without technology, with nearly half saying they never turn off their cell phones even when theyre trying to chill out.

So … sex breeds unhappiness and technology does the opposite?

Jeez, I wish I had a cellphone when I was a teenager.

* The results were from interviews with 1,280 young people, consisting of 618 people aged 13-17 and 662 aged 18-24. The margin of error was 2.7 percentage points for the entire sample. It was 3.9 percentage points for the first group and 3.8 percent for the second group.