Physical Abuse in Early Childhood and Transition to First Sexual Intercourse among Youth in Cape Town,South Africa

This study examined the relationship of physical abuse in early childhood and timing of first sexual intercourse among young South Africans aged 14 to 22 in Cape Town. Using the Cape Area Panel Survey and applying log-normal models, time ratios were estimated to show how rapidly or slowly youth experience first sexual intercourse. Results indicated that boys who experienced physical abuse in early childhood had faster timing to first sex. Boys and girls with violent school environments had faster timing to first sex. Race moderated the effects of physical abuse. Compared to Blacks, Coloreds who experienced higher levels of physical abuse in early childhood had faster timing to first sex. Youth with greater knowledge about HIV/AIDS and those with greater risk perception of contracting HIV/AIDS delayed first sex. On the basis of these findings, policy makers are encouraged to consider the early childhood experiences of youth when designing policies toward HIV/AIDS prevention in South Africa.     

Early Age of First Sexual Intercourse and Depressive Symptomatology among Adolescents

Past literature has provided conflicting evidence for the association between adolescent sexual intercourse and depressive symptomatology. Whereas some studies conclude that sexually active youth may be at risk for depression, others provide contrary results. Thus, it is unclear as to whether depression results directly from coitus or if this relationship is explained by other factors—that is, there may be biological, psychological, or sociological predictors of both depressive symptomatology and early sexual intercourse. Using the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health dataset, depressive symptomatology in adolescents over a seven-year time period was analyzed. The final sample (n = 6,510) was comprised of 49.35% male (n = 3,213) and 50.65% female (n = 3,297) participants. Although an earlier age of first coitus was predictive of future depressive symptoms, both variables appear to be concomitant outcomes of the biopsychosocial process. Thus, although one may be able to use early coitus as a marker for subsequent depressive symptomatology, it does not appear to occur because of early sexual intercourse. Furthermore, the reverse relationship was not found to be significant in this study—that is, higher levels of previous depressive symptomatology did not predict an earlier age of first sexual intercourse in adolescents.     

Parenting and Adolescents' Sexual Initiation

This study draws on social control and social learning theories to examine the role of dating‐specific attitudes and practices as predictors of adolescents' sexual initiation. We include attention to the adolescent's reaction to control attempts as a further means of assessing family dynamics (i.e., frequency of dating disagreements). The study uses longitudinal data from 697 adolescents who were not sexually active at the first interview as well as separate interviews with parents. In models that include all parenting variables, parental caring, parents' preferences that the child should delay sex, and the frequency of dating disagreements were significant predictors of initiation of teen sexual activity.     

Sexual standards and activity: Adolescents' perceptions

This paper reports on findings from in-depth interviews with a small sample of white and black teenage mothers from diverse socio-economic backgrounds about their sexual standards and their feelings about their sexual initiation and subsequent sexual activity. The comparisons across race and across class suggest that there are significant differences across classes among black teens in standards about and personal evaluation of their sexual activity while no class difference among white teens are evident.This research was partially supported by a National Research Service Award from the National Institute of Mental Health, Department of Health and Human Services, grant no. 1-F31-MH09368-O1A1 from July 1986 to July 1987.     

Premarital Sexual Intercourse and Axiomatic Theory Construction*

Axiomatic theory construction was used in this study to analyze the likelihood of participation in premarital sexual intercourse by college women. The sample consisted of 754 never-married female students enrolled in a midwestern, residential university who responded to a sexual attitudes and behavior survey. Forty-eight empirical propositions concerning premarital sexual intercourse were tested, nineteen of which were found to be statistically significant. Three derived propositions were reformulated from these findings, which in turn were utilized to develop two middle-range theories: commitment theory and cultural milieu theory. These theories clearly demonstrate the role of changing personal and societal attitudes toward sexuality and perceived partner commitment in the decision to become sexually active.     

Temperamental Susceptibility to Parenting among Preterm and Full‐Term Infants in Early Cognitive Development

The current study examined the interaction between premature birth, temperamental reactivity, and parenting in early cognitive development. Participants were 142 infants (80 preterm; 62 full term) and their parents. Parent–child interactions (maternal, paternal, and co‐parental) were observed at age 6 months to assess parental structuring behaviors. Additionally, both parents reported on infants' temperamental reactivity. At 12 months of age, infants' cognitive abilities were assessed. Consistent with the diathesis–stress model, preterm infants had lower cognitive outcomes than full‐term infants when exposed to low levels of co‐parental structuring, but functioned similarly when exposed to high levels of co‐parental structuring. However, temperamental reactivity moderated this effect: Infants who carried one susceptibility factor (i.e., premature birth or reactive temperament) were similarly affected by co‐parental structuring, whereas infants who carried two or no susceptibility factors were not. Furthermore, consistent with the differential susceptibility hypothesis, infants with highly reactive temperaments had lower cognitive functioning when exposed to low maternal structuring, but higher cognitive functioning when exposed to high maternal structuring compared to infants with lower reactivity. Results from this study highlight the importance of considering both temperamental reactivity and quality of parenting in understanding preterm infants' early cognitive vulnerability.     

Comparison of Adolescents' Reports of Sexual Behavior on a Survey and Sexual Health History Calendar

Assessing sexual risk is critical for human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) and sexually transmitted infection (STI) prevention with adolescents. This article compares sexual risk reports from two self-administered instruments, a standard survey and a sexual health history calendar (SHHC), among racially diverse youth (n = 232) ages 14 to 21 seeking services at a public health clinic. Agreement between methods was assessed using Lin's concordance correlation coefficients (CCC) and Bland-Altman plots. Lin's CCC showed poor to moderate agreement between instruments on reports of sexual partners in the past 3 (0.47), 6 (0.55), and 12 (0.49) months. While individual sexual partner questions were refused a total of 179 times on the survey, youth reported having sexual partners during the same time period on the SHHC in most (77.1%) of these instances. Poor agreement was also found for condom use frequency (CCC = 0.17), with youth's frequency of condom use on the SHHC differing from that reported on the survey for more than half (55.6%) of the months they were sexually active. While lack of objective sexual behavior measures limits conclusions about the accuracy of reports, the ways in which youth's responses varied across instruments may offer insight into the complexity of adolescent sexual risk taking as well as have important implications for development of HIV/STI preventive interventions.     

Mothers, Fathers, Peers, and Mexican-Origin Adolescents' Sexual Intentions

Drawing on a symbolic-interaction perspective and a compensation model, the processes linking mother-and father-adolescent relationship qualities, deviant peer affiliations, and adolescents' sexual intentions were investigated for 246 Mexican-origin youths born in the United States and in Mexico using multiple-group structural equation models. Deviant peer affiliations significantly mediated the relations between paternal acceptance and sexual intentions and between disclosure to mothers and sexual intentions for U.S.-born youths but not for Mexico-born youths. Findings highlight the importance of examining variability as a function of youth nativity.     

家庭的社会地位与子女早期社会化

早期社会化是整个社会化中十分重要的一环．是基础环节。作为人们社会生活中最重要的初级群体——家庭，是早期社会化的主要场所。家庭社会地位的差异将影响到社会化的进行以及最终的结果。笔者在本文中将家庭作为整个研究中的分析单位，运用社会分层以及家庭社会学的一些理论．将家庭的社会地位分为家庭的财富地位、权力地位、声望和文化资本地位，从而分析了这些家庭社会地位的不同方面对子女早期社会化的理念、目标以及方式的影响和功能。     

The Influences of Career Support and Sexual Identity on Sexual Minority Women's Career Aspirations

The authors examined the relationship between sexual identity, family/friend career support, and career aspirations in a sample of 381 sexual minority women. The results indicated that family career support and friend career support were positively related to career aspirations of sexual minority women. The results also indicated that the relationship between family career support and career aspirations depended on the level of negative sexual identity. The findings demonstrate the utility of social cognitive career theory (Lent, Brown, & Hackett, 1994, 2002) with this particular population. Limitations and implications for further research and practice are discussed.     

The Influences of Sociosexuality and Attachment Style on Reactions to Emotional Versus Sexual Infidelity

Perinatally HIV-infected (PHIV+) youth are surviving into adolescence and young adulthood. Understanding the sexual development of PHIV+ youth is vital to providing them with developmentally appropriate HIV-prevention programs. Using pooled data (N = 417) from two longitudinal studies focused on HIV among youth (51% female; 39% HIV+) and their caregivers (92% female; 46% HIV+), the rate of sexual onset during adolescence across four youth–caregiver combinations was compared: PHIV+ youth with HIV+caregivers (12%), PHIV+ youth with HIV– caregivers (27%), HIV– youth with HIV+caregivers (34%), and HIV– youth with HIV– caregivers (27%). Youth with HIV– caregivers were more likely than other youth–caregiver groups to have had their sexual onset. Youth with HIV+ caregivers reported a slower rate of onset of penetrative sex across the adolescent years. Findings are discussed by highlighting the role that both youth and caregiver HIV status play in the onset of sexual behavior across adolescence.     

Development and Assessment of Measures of Adolescents' Attitudes about Sexual Relationship Rights

Objective: Develop and validate measures of adolescents' attitudes about sexual relationship rights. Methods: Items were completed by students in a large U.S. city (N = 655). The authors conducted an exploratory factor analysis, evaluated internal consistency, and assessed construct validity, including ability to predict sexual behavior at 1-year follow-up. Results: Factor analysis identified 2 distinct factors, comprising attitudes about rights to refuse unwanted sexual activity (5 items) and express sexual engagement needs (5 items) in a sexual relationship. The measures showed sound evidence of reliability and construct validity. Conclusions: The psychometric evidence supports the use of these measures in adolescent sexual health research.     

Perceptions of Early Sexual Experiences and Adult Sexual Adjustment

Abstract

Individuals' self-evaluations of their childhood and adolescent sexual experiences as positive, mixed, or negative, and the relationship of these evaluations to adult sexual attitudes and adjustment were examined. Undergraduate students (N= 141) at a Northeastern university completed a sex history questionnaire and measures of sexual attitudes and satisfaction. Results supported the hypotheses that positively evaluated early sexual experiences would be associated with greater erotophilia, more acceptance of various sexual behaviors for self and others, and greater sexual satisfaction. Limitations of the study include potential biases of retrospective reports and relatively small sample sizes for some comparisons. Implications for future research include the importance of self-evaluations of early sexual experience as a predictor of later sexual attitudes and adjustment.     

The Influence of Female and Male Risk on the Occurrence of Sexual Intercourse Within Adolescent Relationships

This study uses the characteristics of male and female partners within adolescent relationship pairs drawn from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health to predict the occurrence of intercourse within relationships. Most analyses are based on a sample of 724 relationship pairs. The sample was ethnically diverse: 56% White, 20% Black, 14% Hispanic, and 10% Asian, Pacific Islander, or Other. Male partners on average were 17.5 years in age and females were 17.0. Predictors of intercourse included virginity status when entering the relationships, desire to have sex early in relationships, family‐ and school‐related risk indicators, attitudes regarding the pros and cons of having sex, and other risk indicators, such as delinquency and drinking. Findings demonstrate that the characteristics of both sexes influence intercourse occurrence within relationships.     

Introduction to “Sexual Scripts: Origins,Influences and Changes”

Qualitative Sociology -     

Sexual Beliefs and Sexual Functioning: The Mediating Role of Cognitive Distraction

Dysfunctional sexual beliefs are vulnerability factors for sexual dysfunction. This cross-sectional study aimed to test the mediating role of cognitive distraction on the relationship between dysfunctional sexual beliefs about sexual functioning shared by men and women and sexual function. The authors used a sample of 421 cisgender heterosexual participants involved in a monogamous relationship. The hypothesized mediation model was tested using a bootstrapped cross product of coefficients approach. Results showed a significant negative, indirect effect between dysfunctional sexual beliefs and women's sexual function through cognitive distraction. The discussion of this study highlights the importance of cognitive factors in sexual functioning.