Neighborhood context and racial differences in early adolescent sexual activity

Evidence suggests that African American youths initiate sexual activity at earlier ages than do European American or Latino youths. Using data from a multilevel study in Chicago, we developed and tested a neighborhood-based model of the timing of first adolescent intercourse that emphasizes the impact of neighborhood structural disadvantage and collective efficacy on early sexual activity (at ages 11 to 16). In turn, we explored the extent to which neighborhood factors account for racial differences in the timing of first intercourse. The findings indicate that demographic background, family processes, peer influences, and developmental risk factors account for about 30% of the baseline increased likelihood of early sexual onset for African American youths compared with European American youths. However, a significant residual racial difference remained even after we considered a host of micro-level factors. Neighborhood-level concentrated poverty largely explained this residual racial difference. Collective efficacy also independently contributed to the delay of sexual onset. No significant baseline difference in age of sexual initiation was found between Latino and European American youths.     

Educational attainment and the transition to first marriage among Japanese women

I use data from a large nationally representative survey to examine the relationship between women's educational attainment and the timing of first marriage in Japan. The results indicate that later marriage for highly educated women primarily reflects longer enrollment in school, that university education is increasingly associated with later and less marriage, and that the trend toward later and less marriage is occurring at all levels of educational attainment. These findings are consistent, albeit weakly, with the argument that higher education should be negatively associated with marriage only in countries in which gender relations make it particularly difficult for women to balance work and family.     

Sexual activity and weekly contraceptive use among young adult women in Michigan

Past studies on the influence of sexual activity on contraceptive behaviours are inconclusive, relying heavily on cross-sectional data. We used a population-based longitudinal sample of young women in Michigan to evaluate weekly associations between sexual activity and contraceptive use at three levels of measurement: comparing between women, among individual women’s partnerships, and from week to week within partnerships. We used multinomial logistic regression accounting for correlations within partnerships and women. Relative to use of least effective methods, weekly sexual activity was significantly associated with increased use of condoms, pills, and highly effective methods. For pills and highly effective methods, partnership-, woman-, and week-level effects were similar. For condoms, there was no significant woman-level effect. Evidence of immediate effects of sexual activity on contraceptive use highlights the importance of longitudinal data. These dynamics may be diluted or missed altogether when relying on cross-sectional data approaches that compare groups of individuals.     

Timing of the transition to nonvirginity among unmarried adolescent women

This article focuses on differences between teenagers who became sexually active in early adolescence (15 or younger) and those who did so in late adolescence (16–19). It reviews research on adolescent sexual behavior and summarizes findings on factors associated with adolescent coitus. The few findings on the meaning of first coitus are also noted. A study which used a sample of already-pregnant adolescents is presented in detail. While few differences between those who first had coitus during early adolescence and those who had it later were significant, most were in the predicted direction, and none were contrary to the hypotheses. A major significant difference concerned the relationship between sex and love; those who found the two related tended to start their sexual careers later than those who did not. Policy implications of research findings are discussed, especially those relevant to sex education.This research was supported in part by Grant No. HD 11099 NICHD, and in part by Grant No. 78-499, Charles Stewart Mott Foundation.This article is a revision of a paper presented at the Annual Meetings of the Society for the Study of Social Problems, August 26, 1980, New York, N.Y.     

Negative sexual experiences with men among heterosexual women and lesbians

Survey responses on traumatic experiences with men were compared from 50 matched pairs of heterosexual women and lesbians. Prior research has implied that lesbians have had more traumatic experiences with men than heterosexual women. The purpose of this study was to test the hypothesis that lesbians would report more negative sexual experiences with men than heterosexual women. The findings of the present study did not support this hypothesis. The only significant difference found between the two groups was that heterosexual women were more likely to report multiple categories of traumatic experiences and lesbians were more likely to report experiences in only one category of trauma. Contrary to prior studies, these results indicate that previous traumatic experiences with men may not be a significant factor in the development of sexual orientation.     

Adolescent sexual activity in the family context: The impact of older siblings

Using approximately 2,000 sibling pairs from the National Longitudinal Survey of Labor Market Experience of Youth, we examine the influence of an older sibling's age at first sexual intercourse on the sexual initiation of a younger sibling. Hypotheses about differences by gender composition of the pair are tested, using a framework derived from social comparison theory and a two-stage failure-time model. Results provide evidence of a direct but modest-sized older sibling effect for white but not black youth. This effect is approximately equal in magnitude for same- and opposite-sex siblings. Little support is offered for the greater salience and association of sexual activity for brother-brother as compared with sister-sister pairs.     

Variations in nutritional risk among black and white women who receive home-delivered meals

The maintenance of good nutritional status is a cornerstone of health, function, and quality of life. To assess indicators and correlates of high levels of nutritional risk, sociodemographic, functional status, and nutritional data were collected from a diverse sample of 729 older women. Results from ordered logit analysis indicated that being Black, having an income < or = 125% of the federal poverty level, living alone, and being in the younger-old age group (ages 60 to 74 years) were associated with moderately high and very high levels of nutritional risk. An examination of individual and multiple nutritional risk indicators suggested a heightened vulnerability of Black women to inadequate dietary intake, even net of income and other influential variables. With demographic projections of an increasingly numerous and diverse older population who may face health and nutritional challenges, researchers must strengthen efforts to assist policymakers and service providers to properly target nutrition services.     

Young women’s transition to marriage

This paper examines determinants of timing of marriage for young women by modeling the transition from the single to the married state by age. This approach, combined with a large longitudinal data set, allows us to disaggregate the analysis into fine age groupings and to include situational and attitudinal factors in our model. We find that those characteristics of a young woman’s parental family that reflect the availability of parental resources tend to decrease the chances of a marriage during the early teens. Chances of marrying appear to decrease with increases in the availability and attractiveness of alternatives to the wife role and in the costs of assuming it. We discuss these results from the perspective of the societal and parental normative pressures which affect timing of marriage for young women.     

Measurement issues involved in examining contraceptive use among young single women

The objective of this study was to determine how research findings on contraceptive use among young single women are affected by differing operational definitions of contraceptive use. Data were analyzed from a student sample and a clinic sample. In the analysis of the student sample were 244 high school and college women aged 16–22 who had experienced sexual intercourse. In the birth control clinic sample were 432 women aged 13–20. Six operational definitions of contraceptive use were analyzed. Correlation and multiple regression analyses were used to examine the relationship of predictor variables with the six definitions separately for each sample. The variance explained for each of the contraceptive measures ranged from 8 percent to 44 percent in the student sample and from 9 percent to 24 percent in the clinic sample.     

Contraceptive behavior among unmarried young women: A theoretical framework for research

Adoption of the most effective methods of contraception requires individual decision-making and negotiation with contraceptive providers. In order to take account of both behavioral elements, a two-dimensional framework for understanding contraceptive adoption and continuation by unmarried young is proposed, incorporating a "social-psychological model" of individual decision-making and an "interpersonal model" of factors affecting provider-client interaction. The social-psychological model is based on an earlier value-expectancy theory of behavior motivation as applied to health-related behaviors. The interpersonal model is derived from conflict-bargaining perspectives on professional-client interaction; it is suggested that expectations for this interaction are based on a limited number of internalized "models": the "professional"; the "bureaucratic"; the "commercial"; and the "parental." Insofar as client and professional "models" disagree, communication may break down and client understanding and/or acceptance of provider advice cannot be assured. The components of the social-psychological and interpersonal models are described in detail, and a combined framework is proposed.     

Why marry? Race and the transition to marriage among cohabitors

Our study investigates the transition to first marriage among cohabiting black and white men and women, drawing on data from the National Survey of Families and Households. Our results underscore the importance of economic factors on the transition to marriage for both black and white cohabitors. We also find that for black cohabitors, but not for whites, socioeconomic disadvantage during childhood reduces the odds of marriage. The presence of children in cohabiting unions tends to increase the chances of marrying a cohabiting partner for both blacks and whites. Our results demonstrate the importance of including cohabitation in research on the marriage process.     

Alcohol consumption and risky sexual behavior among young adults: evidence from minimum legal drinking age laws

This paper exploits the discrete jump in alcohol consumption at the minimum legal drinking age (MLDA) in the USA and uses a regression discontinuity design to investigate the relationship between drinking and risky sexual behaviors among young adults. Using confidential data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth (1997 Cohort), we document that young adults tend to drink up to 2.1 days more once they are granted legal access to alcohol at age 21. Although the discrete jump in alcohol consumption at the MLDA is associated with an increase in the probability of having sex by up to 7.8 percentage points, it does not have a significant impact on the probability of engaging in risky sexual behaviors among young adults. We also document that the effect of the MLDA on the probability of using several different birth control methods is not significant for those who had sex in the past 4 weeks. These results are robust under alternative specifications and imply that although the MLDA law is quite effective in reducing alcohol consumption among young adults, spillover effects of this law on risky sexual behaviors are relatively limited.     

Educational mobility and the fertility of black and white women

In a test of the minority group status hypothesis, this study examines the effect of intergenerational educational mobility on the fertility of black and white women. Regression analysis of data from the National Survey of Family Growth provides only limited support for the hypothesis that upwardly mobile black women have lower fertility than their white counterparts. The main finding is that the parity of upwardly mobile black women is influenced more strongly by educational origins (parents' education) than is the parity of upwardly mobile white women. Thus, future studies should consider the effects of social origins on racial differences in fertility.This article is a revised version of a paper presented at the annual meeting of the American Sociological Association, 23 August 1992, Pittsburgh, PA, USA.     

Reduction in leisure activity and well-being during the transition to widowhood

There is relatively little evidence available about how leisure involvement changes with the death of a spouse and even less about how leisure activity is associated with the health and well-being of widows during this transition. Using data from the Americans Changing Lives (ACL) dataset, this study of 154 widows investigated change in leisure involvement during the transition to widowhood and examined the relationship between leisure activity reduction and widows' well-being. Results indicated a majority of widows reduced their involvement in leisure activity. Path models revealed that depressive symptoms and recovery from spousal loss were predictors of activity reduction, providing more support for the causal relationship of well-being influencing activity involvement than for activity influencing well-being.     

The impact of economic resources on premarital childbearing and subsequent marriage among young American women

This paper extends previous work on premarital childbearing by modeling both the entry rates and the exit rates of unwed motherhood among young American women. In particular, I investigate the impact of economic resources on the likelihood of experiencing a premarital birth and then of subsequent marriage. Using a multiple-destination, multiple-spell hazard regression model and a microsimulation analysis, I analyze the accumulating effects of various economic variables. The results show that the economic resources are indeed important both for premarital childbearing and for subsequent marriage. However, the simulations show that large changes in these economic variables do not necessarily translate into large changes in nonmarital childbearing.     

How women experience menopause: the importance of social context

This study analyzes personal accounts of women's menopausal experiences to understand why most women view menopause as an insignificant event, despite negative cultural and medical constructions of menopause as a time of "loss." We analyze 16 in-depth interviews with a diverse sample of women to examine how social contexts affect women's experiences with menopause and the meaning of those experiences. We find that most women view menopause as inconsequential because other events of midlife are more important or stressful to them. However, when cultural and medical contexts are examined, we find that some women do not avoid others' negative constructions of menopause as a time of "loss."