Adolescent life events and their association with the onset of sexual intercourse

Impulsivity as a Predictor of Early Dating Initiation in 11-12-Year-Old Youth

As early initiation of dating behaviors is associated with risky sexual behaviors (e.g., higher number of sexual partners, sex with strangers), the current study examined determinants of early dating behaviors, focusing on impulsivity. Participants were 11-12-year-old boys (n = 109) and girls (n = 61) recruited from a psychiatric clinic and ads targeted to the general public. Ordered logistic regression models were used to examine the association between each facet of impulsivity (negative urgency, positive urgency, lack of premeditation, lack of perseverance, and sensation seeking) and dating behaviors. Youth with higher sensation seeking and negative urgency was more likely to initiate dating behaviors at early ages compared to those with lower scores on those measures. Further, we found that female gender and higher parental education were associated with lower risk of initiating dating behaviors at early age. Advanced pubertal development was associated with higher risk for early dating. Our findings can inform prevention efforts, identifying sensation seeking and negative urgency as predictors of youths' early engagement in dating behaviors, which can be a precursor of early sexual debut and risky sexual behaviors.

Life expectations in early adolescence and the timing of first sex and marriage: evidence from a longitudinal survey in Ethiopia

BACKGROUND

Raising the median age at first sexual intercourse and first marriage among females is a policy goal of the Ethiopian government. Education figures prominently in the government's plans for achieving its goals, including primary and secondary schools; higher education; and out-of-school interventions such as youth centers, peer clubs, and youth associations In this study, we tested whether adolescents and youth who had high educational and occupational expectations at younger ages were at a lower risk of first sexual intercourse and marriage during adolescence and early adulthood.

METHODS

Data came from multiple waves of a longitudinal survey of households and adolescents conducted in southwestern Ethiopia. A measure of career expectations was created from educational and occupational expectations measured at baseline when the adolescents were ages 13-17. The occurrence and timing of first sexual intercourse (called first sex) and marriage were measured four years later in a wave 3 survey. Discrete-time logistic hazard regression models were applied to a person-year file to predict first sex for males and females separately and first marriage for females.

RESULTS

Male and female adolescents who had high career expectations at young ages were at a significantly lower risk of first sex during adolescence and early adulthood. Unlike the delaying effect of being in school, the effect of high career expectations did not wear off as adolescents aged. Among female adolescents, delaying first sex, staying in school, and having parents who desired them to marry at older ages were all associated with a significantly lower risk of marriage during adolescence and early adulthood.

CONCLUSIONS

The educational and occupational expectations and family plans that youth develop early in adolescence influence the timing of the transition into sexual activity and marriage. Ethiopian youth who develop high career expectations delay first sex, which for female youth is a key predictor of age at first marriage. Adolescents' perceptions of parents' expectations for them are strongly associated with their own expectations and behavior.

Longitudinal influence of COVID-19-related stress on sexual compulsivity symptoms in Chinese undergraduates

BACKGROUND

The coping theory shows that stressful life events are associated with individuals' psychology/behaviors; meanwhile, the coronavirus disease of 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic is known to have impacted individuals' physical and mental health. Prior studies revealed that undergraduates have many sexual behavior and emotion disorders, which may be impacted during an isolation period, such as the one brought by COVID-19. However, few studies have explored the longitudinal associations between COVID-19-related stress and sexual compulsivity symptoms (SCS), and the mediating effect of emotions (i.e., depression and anxiety) on this relationship. This longitudinal study aimed to investigate these associations.

METHODS

We employed a cross-lagged design (2020/2/12: Time 1, 3219 participants; 2020/6/6: Time 2, 2998 participants) and recruited Chinese undergraduates through an online system to respond to a survey.

RESULTS

Our results showed that COVID-19-related stress at Time 1 directly influenced SCS at Time 1, and there was an indirect influence via depression and anxiety at Time 1. COVID-19-related stress at Time 1 positively correlated with depression, anxiety, and SCS at Time 2, and the first could directly and positively predict SCS at Time 2. Moreover, albeit depression at Time 2 was negatively linked to SCS at Time 2, anxiety at Time 2 enhanced the effect of COVID-19-related stress on SCS.

CONCLUSIONS

Our findings extend the literature on SCS, showing that the higher the COVID-19-related stress, the higher the SCS, and the longer-lasting effect was associated with anxiety in undergraduates. Furthermore, depression does not mediate the relationship between COVID-19-related stress and SCS.

Sources of Information about Dating and Their Perceived Influence on Adolescents

This study examined the impact of parents, peers, the media, and sex education on shaping adolescents’knowledge about dating relationships. Half of the 100 (48 females, 52 males) participants were early adolescents (13 to 14 years) and half were middle adolescents (15 to 16 years). Through a questionnaire, participants identified the quantity of information, perceived correctness, and influence of each of the sources. Friends and sex education teachers were perceived to provide the most information, adults to provide the most accurate information, and friends to have the greatest influence on dating choices. Sex differences existed across various questions and source types. Girls received more information on dating across sources, perceived parents and the media to be more accurate sources of information, and were more influenced by their parents than were boys. Boys gave higher rankings to dating partners and dating behavior as comfortable sources of information than did girls.

Self-Esteem, Depressive Symptoms, and Adolescents' Sexual Onset

We examine whether self-esteem and depressive symptoms influence sexual onset when important controls such as age, dating, race, and income are examined. Analyses are based on the first two waves of the restricted-use sample of the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health. We examine adolescents who reported at wave 1 that they had not had sexual intercourse. Using logistic regression models run separately for males and for females, we find that depressive symptoms, when entered simultaneously, exert a greater effect than self-esteem on sexual onset. Depressive symptoms have less effect on sexual onset for African-American girls than for white girls. Higher self-esteem is associated with greater likelihood of sexual debut at older ages for boys. Our findings suggest that although many positive benefits of self-esteem have been suggested, the conceptual and empirical link between depressive symptoms and adolescent sexual onset may be more crucial.

Premarital first births: The influence of the timing of sexual onset versus post-onset risks in the United States

Motivated by long-standing debates between abstinence proponents and sceptics, we examine how socio-economic factors influence premarital first births via: (i) age at first sexual intercourse and (ii) the risk of a premarital first birth following the onset of sexual activity. Factors associated with an earlier age at first intercourse will imply more premarital first births owing to increased exposure to risk, but many of these same factors will also be associated with higher risks of a premarital first birth following onset. Our analyses confirm previous findings that women from disadvantaged backgrounds are younger at first intercourse and have higher premarital first-birth risks than women from more advantaged backgrounds. However, differences in onset timing have a strikingly smaller influence on premarital first-birth probabilities than do differences in post-onset risks. Our findings thus suggest that premarital first births result primarily from differences in post-onset risk behaviours as opposed to differences in onset timing.

Comparative analysis between condom use clusters and risk behaviours among Portuguese university students

The research on condom use has been focused on high-risk individuals, paying less attention to those who have moderate risk or safe sexual conducts. In order to design accurate interventions, potential differences among the condom use behavior groups must be considered. The goal was to assess possible differences in individuals presenting different types of risk behavior. 140 heterosexual university students answered a self-reported questionnaire about their sexual history, condom use habits, sexual self-esteem, sexual satisfaction, sexual control, attitudes towards condoms, self-efficacy to condom use, and emotions and feelings during sexual intercourse. A cluster analysis was conducted using the results about condom use and risk behaviors. Three groups with different risk levels emerged, presenting differences over sexual self-efficacy, attitudes towards condoms, socio-demographic variables, and sexual history. The results suggest the condom use inconsistency is highly associated with other risk behaviors but the contrary does not necessarily happens. Condom use consistent users also presented risk behaviors as smoking and drinking. The group differences suggest the risks were more affected by the combination of lack of skills with a negative attitude toward condoms than by contextual or personal variables. These differences sustain the need of an intervention adjusted to the individual's risk levels, since they differ on skills and beliefs that may hinder or promote the adoption of health behaviors.

Why Are Childhood Family Factors Associated With Timing of Maturation? A Role for Internal Prediction

Children, particularly girls, who experience early familial adversity tend to go on to reach sexual maturity relatively early. This feature of adolescent development is believed to be an evolved strategy that arose because individuals with genes that caused them to mature relatively early under certain conditions left behind more descendants than those who did not. However, although much has been done to uncover the psychological and physiological mechanisms underlying this process, less attention has been paid to the evolutionary reasons behind why it might be advantageous. It has previously been suggested that this strategy evolved because early familial adversity accurately indicated later environmental adversity, under which conditions early reproduction would likely maximize evolutionary fitness. In this article, we contrast this “external prediction” model with an alternative explanation, which builds on the existing explanation and is mutually compatible with it but also distinct from it. We argue that accelerated development is advantageous because early adversity detrimentally affects the individual’s body, increasing later morbidity and mortality; individuals may adapt to this internal setback by accelerating their development. Unlike the external prediction model, this “internal prediction” relies not on temporal environmental continuity but on long-term effects of early circumstances on the body.

Adolescent daughters' romantic competence: the role of divorce, quality of parenting, and maternal romantic history

This study examined the links between parental divorce, quality of maternal parenting, spousal relationships and middle adolescent romantic competence in 80 mother-adolescent daughter pairs (40 divorced). Mothers were asked to describe their attitudes and behaviors with regard to their daughters' romantic behavior. In addition, mothers were interviewed about their own romantic experiences when they were at the age of their daughters. Adolescent girls (mean age = 16.98 years; range 16-18) were administered a comprehensive interview about romantic competence. Findings indicated that adolescent girls from divorced families showed lower levels of romantic competence, which were expressed in their behavior, attitudes toward relationships and skill in handling those relationships. Divorce was found to have had an adverse effect on girls' romantic competence, whereas continued adaptive parenting and spousal relationships alleviated the effect of divorce. Mothers' coherent representation of their own adolescent romantic experiences also alleviated the effect of divorce on daughters' romantic behavior. Results show the important role of family relationships in fostering romantic competence among adolescent girls.

Boys will be boys: are there gender differences in the effect of sexual abstinence on schooling?

A recent study by Sabia and Rees (2009) found that delaying first intercourse leads to a substantial increase in the probability that female students graduate high school. However, it is unclear whether the effect of abstinence extends to male students. Here we identify exogenous variation in the timing of first intercourse using a physical development index available for both females and males. Two-stage least squares estimates suggest that abstaining from sexual intercourse increases the probability that females graduate from high school, but has little effect on the educational attainment of males. This pattern of results is consistent with evidence from previous studies that males are less likely than females to suffer adverse psychological consequences from engaging in sexual intercourse at an early age.

The effect of sexual abstinence on females' educational attainment

A number of studies have shown that teenagers who abstain from sex are more likely to graduate from high school and attend college than their sexually active peers. However it is unclear whether this association represents a causal relationship or can be explained by unmeasured heterogeneity. We employ a variety of statistical techniques to distinguish between these hypotheses, using data on females from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health. Our results provide evidence that delaying first intercourse leads to an increased likelihood of graduating from high school. This relationship appears to be strongest among respondents in the bottom third of the ability distribution. Controlling for fertility reduces, but does not eliminate, the estimated effect of delaying intercourse.

Rethinking Timing of First Sex and Delinquency

The relation between timing of first sex and later delinquency was examined using a genetically informed sample of 534 same-sex twin pairs from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health, who were assessed at three time points over a 7-year interval. Genetic and environmental differences between families were found to account for the association between earlier age at first sex and increases in delinquency. After controlling for these genetic and environmental confounds using a quasi-experimental design, earlier age at first sex predicted lower levels of delinquency in early adulthood. The current study is contrasted with previous research with non-genetically informative samples, including Armour and Haynie. Results suggest a more nuanced perspective on the meaning and consequences of adolescent sexuality than is commonly put forth in the literature.

The role of close friends in African American adolescents' dating and sexual behavior

This study examined the role of close friends in the sexual lives of African American adolescents. Fifteen African American adolescents residing in an urban neighborhood participated in individual in-depth qualitative interviews. The findings suggest that close friends play a critical role in the dating and sexual behaviors of inner-city African American adolescents, as they appear to serve as socializing agents that impact how adolescents conceptualize and socially construct dating and sexual roles and behaviors. Close friends also play a significant role in acquiring new dating and sexual partners and in determining the course of dating and sexual relationships. Although females and males expressed similar expectations regarding sexual fidelity and condom use, they differed with regard to their method and process of talking with friends about dating and sex, their shared social constructions about dating and sexual roles and expectations, and their perceptions of the meaning of dating. We discuss the implications of the findings in terms of involving close friends in interventions focused on improving the sexual health of African American adolescents. Future directions for research with African American adolescents and sexuality are also discussed.

Family structure and adolescent cigarette smoking in eleven European countries

AIMS

This study seeks to establish (1) if different types of non-traditional family structures are related equally to adolescent cigarette smoking; (2) if each type of family structure is related equally to adolescent smoking in different countries and (3) if differences in such patterns can be explained by the prevalence of such family structures in each country.

DESIGN

Self-reported cigarette smoking among 33 978 students in Cyprus, France, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Lithuania, Malta, Slovak Republic, Slovenia, Sweden and the United Kingdom is analysed with multi-level hierarchical regression models.

FINDINGS

Adolescents living with both biological parents smoke less than those living with single mothers, who in turn smoke less than those living with single fathers, mothers-stepfathers, or with neither biological parent. Living with fathers-stepmothers is associated with less smoking than living with single fathers, mother-stepfathers, or with neither biological parent, but does not differ from living with both biological parents or single mothers. The effects of living with single mothers, single fathers, or with neither biological parent are stronger in countries where such family types are less common. Differences in the strength of effects between countries become non-significant once the prevalence of each family type has been taken into account.

CONCLUSIONS

Adolescents living with both biological parents smoke less than their counterparts in most other family types, and adolescents living with single mothers or fathers-stepmothers smoke less than those living in other non-traditional family structures. The strength of this pattern varies inversely with the prevalence of such households in each country.

Sexual behaviors and relationship qualities in late adolescent couples

This study examined the associations between relationship qualities, sexual behaviors, and relationship length in 61 adolescent couples (aged 16-20). For both male and female partners, positive relationship qualities were associated with physical expressions of affection. Perceptions of higher levels of conflict and frustration were associated with more frequent sexual intercourse. Factor analysis and multiple regression indicated that the frequency of sexual behavior and the perception of global relationship quality (support, depth and intimacy) predicted relationship length for these couples. While the frequency of sexual expression was associated with relationship longevity for both male and female partners, positive relationship qualities (depth and intimacy) were additionally associated with relationship longevity for male partners only. Implications of these findings are discussed in light of current gaps in understanding the relational context of adolescent sexual behavior.

Ecological factors associated with adolescent sexual activity

Bronfenbrenner's (1979) ecological systems theory was used as an organizing framework for the research on teenage sexual activity. Per Bronfenbrenner's theory, the literature is discussed according to macrolevel (system-wide), mesolevel (immediate social environment), and microlevel (individual) factors that are associated with adolescent sexual involvement. Following the review, implications for social work are explored.

Female adolescents and onset of sexual intercourse: a theory-based review of research from 1984 to 1994

PURPOSE

To review a decade of research on the correlates of early onset of sexual intercourse among female adolescents in the United States, using Social Cognitive Theory as a framework for classification.

METHODS

Forty-nine studies published in peer-reviewed journals between 1984 and 1994 were reviewed and their findings coded by two independent coders.

RESULTS

Findings indicate that most of the studies emphasized quantitative methodologies, using cross-sectional designs and univariate statistical analyses. Many studies lacked a theoretical framework or conceptual model to guide their investigations. When evaluating empirical findings, 61% of the studies found environmental correlates and 47% found biological factors (e.g., age and pubertal development) to be significantly associated with early initiation of sexual intercourse.

CONCLUSION

These findings raise important questions about the quality of research on adolescent sexuality, as well as its relationship to the development of risk-reduction programs which tend to focus mainly on intrapersonal factors (such as attitudes, knowledge, and expectancies.