Abstract
BackgroundThis longitudinal study examined psychosocial factors associated with risky sexual behavior in early adolescence.MethodsData 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.ResultsExternalizing 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.ConclusionBy 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.
Highlights
This longitudinal study examined psychosocial factors associated with risky sexual behavior in early adolescence
Lower socio-economic status was initially related to increased risk of sexual initiation, this association dropped from significance when psychopathology change-over-time variables were entered into the analysis, most likely because socio-economic status is associated with greater increases in externalizing factors and smaller decreases in internalizing problems
Importance of early interventions National studies have focused on sexual activity of high school students, but studies at the middle school level have only been done by a handful of cities and districts around the country
Summary
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. (The remaining 4% had been retained a year and were in seventh grade (when students are usually twelve to thirteen years old).) To assess longitudinal changes in the variables of interest, only those students who completed the survey in both 2001 and 2003 were included in this study (n = 1,191) This attrition rate of 13% over the course of two years is characteristic of longitudinal studies with highrisk young, urban, ethnic-minority adolescents [40,41] such as in the present study. Analyses were conducted to determine whether the final sample of 1,175 students differed from the initial sample of 1,368 across http://www.capmh.com/content/1/1/14
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