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- Caminis, Argyro, et al.
(author)
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Psychosocial predictors of sexual initiation and high-risk sexual behaviors in early adolescence.
- 2007
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In: Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Mental Health. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 1753-2000. ; 1:1, s. 14-
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- BACKGROUND: This longitudinal study examined psychosocial factors associated with risky sexual behavior in early adolescence.METHODS: Data were collected through a self-report survey, the Social and Health Assessment (SAHA), which was administered in three waves between 2001 and 2003 to a cohort of incoming sixth grade students in the public school system (149 classes at 17 middle and high schools, N = 1,175) of a small northeastern city in the United States.We first examined whether internalizing and externalizing problems in sixth grade, and the rate of change in these factors during middle school, were predictive of sexual initiation two years later, when most of the sample was in eighth grade. We then assessed whether internalizing and externalizing problems in sixth grade, and the rate of change in these factors during middle school, were predictive of engaging in high risk sexual behavior over the subsequent two years.RESULTS: Externalizing factors are more predictive of sexual risk in early adolescence than are internalizing factors. Specifically, substance use and violent delinquency over the course of middle school were associated with higher, while anxiety with lower, sexual initiation rates during middle school. Additionally, increased substance use over the course of middle school was associated with greater likelihood of engaging in high risk sexual behavior.CONCLUSION: By identifying particular psychosocial risk factors among young adolescents, the findings of this study have implications for designing multi-dimensional programs aimed at preventing health-compromising sexual behavior among young teens.
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| 2. |
- Martin, Andrés, et al.
(author)
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Early to bed : a study of adaptation among sexually active urban adolescent girls younger than age sixteen.
- 2005
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In: Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry. - : Elsevier BV. - 0890-8567 .- 1527-5418. ; 44:4, s. 358-67
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- OBJECTIVE: To examine the association between sexual activity among urban adolescent girls and four global measures of psychosocial adaptation (academic motivation, school achievement, depressive symptoms, and expectations about the future).METHOD: Data derived from the Social and Health Assessment, a self-report survey administered in 1998 to students in the public school system in New Haven, CT (149 classes at 17 middle and high schools).RESULTS: Of 1,413 respondents (57% black, 28% Hispanic; mean age 13.4 +/- 1.7 years), 414 (29%) acknowledged prior sexual intercourse; the proportions of sexually active girls in 6th, 8th, and 10th grades were 14%, 30%, and 50%, respectively. In multivariate analyses of covariance, sexual activity was significantly associated with all four measures of psychosocial adaptation (p < .001). Other correlates of at least one measure of maladaptation included socioeconomic status, sensation seeking, and lower school grade (p < .001 for each), peer pressure (p < .01), and black ethnicity, and the interaction of sexual activity by lower school grade (p < .05 for each).CONCLUSIONS: Compared with their sexually naive peers, sexually active adolescent girls had lower scores on global measures of psychosocial adaptation. These findings have clinical, policy, and research relevance to a vulnerable population at high risk of teenage pregnancy and sexually transmitted diseases.
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