It is one study, and I believe its results would go against received wisdom from professionals who deal with the issue.

It's far from a perfect study, too. They are asking the girls for their opinions at the time, not 5 years later. It is a primarily poor, urban sample that may not generalize. I don't think any of their variables maps reliably to my "end badly".

The essentially anecdotal results from the book "Going all the way" also did not support worse outcomes with older lovers, I realize. But it is essentially anecdotal.

It's not an area I've studied, and I'm certainly open to seeing more studies different results.

The other reason for the restriction is that we shouldn't hold teens responsible for what they do in a way we do for adults. There is a rationale for the restriction even if outcomes were similar.