Family Structure, Maternal Dating, and Sexual Debut: Extending the Conceptualization of Instability

Family structure influences the risk of early onset of sexual intercourse. This study proposes that the family structures associated with risk-single-mother, step-parent, and cohabiting-influence early sexual debut due to family instability, including shifts in family structure and maternal dating, which can undermine parental control and transmit messages about the acceptability of nonmarital sex. 

Previous research has not considered maternal dating as a component of family instability, assuming single mothers who date and those who do not date experience comparable levels of family disruption and transmit similar messages about the acceptability of nonmarital sex. 

Hypotheses are assessed using logistic regression models predicting the odds of early onset of sexual intercourse among 9959 respondents (53 % female, 47 % male) from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent to Adult Health. Respondents were ages 12-17 at the first wave of data collection and 18-26 at the third wave, when respondents reported the age at which they first had sexual intercourse. 

Results show that maternal dating is a source of family instability with repercussions for early sexual debut. Parental control and permissive attitudes towards teenage sex and pregnancy link at-risk family structures and maternal dating to early sexual initiation among females, though these variables do not fully explain family structure and maternal dating effects. Among males, the influence of maternal dating on early sexual debut is fully explained by the learning of permissive sexual attitudes.

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By:  Zito RC1, De Coster S2.

• 1Department of Sociology and Anthropology, Elon University, 2035 Campus Box, Elon, NC, 27244, USA. rzito@elon.edu.
• 2Department of Sociology and Anthropology, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC, USA. 
• J Youth Adolesc. 2016 Mar 7. 

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Pain, Instability & Familial Discord: A Qualitative Study into Women Who Use Drugs in Malaysia

Out of 20,887 persons who use drugs that came into contact with the National Anti-Drugs Agency (NADA) officials in the year 2013, 3.2 % were women. Because women who use drugs (WWUD) are often a hidden population, this may be an underestimate. International literature shows that women who use drugs face increased risk of HIV, intimate partner violence, and mental health issues. Similar literature in Malaysia is lacking, and thus, the objective of our study was exploratory in nature.

Thirty-eight women who use drugs were interviewed using a semi-structured topic guide in Kelantan, Penang, Johor, Kuala Lumpur, and Selangor. Locations were chosen purposively. Nineteen women were interviewed individually and the remaining 19 were in focus group discussions (FGDs). All interviews were transcribed verbatim, translated to English, and analyzed with NVivo.

Median age of respondents was 35.5 years old, 89.5 % ethnic Malays, majority having married below the age of 20, and were of low socioeconomic backgrounds. Youngest age of initiation into drug use was 9 years old. Most reported is inhalation of amphetamine-type substances. Seven reported ever injecting. Three themes emerged: (a) repeating patterns of fluid family structures and instability; (b) “pain” and “difficulty” as features of home life; and (c) seeking marriage as a source of stabilization and practices of power within those marriages. Respondents often came from very fluid family environments and married to find stability, only to be drawn into a similar cycle. None of the women who had been separated from their children either institutionally, by family members, or by third parties, had accessed legal recourse for the loss of their parental rights.

Unstable familial relationships or environments contributed to earlier initiation of drug use which raised questions about support services for WWUD and children who use drugs. Respondents were drawn into unstable and/or abusive relationships, perpetuating social inequalities that marked their own familial environments during childhood. These findings support the need for additional services to support the unique needs of WWUD, including domestic violence services, financial and life skills, parental rights assistance, and empowerment programs.

Full article at: http://goo.gl/ZWPVAw

By: Fifa Rahman^1*, Priya Lall², Sarah Iqbal¹ and B. Vicknasingam³

¹Malaysian AIDS Council, No. 12, Jalan 13/48A, Sentul Raya Boulevard, Kuala Lumpur, 51000, Malaysia

²University of Malaya, Medical Faculty, Kuala Lumpur, 50603, Malaysia

³Centre for Drug Research, Universiti Sains Malaysia, Penang, 11800, Malaysia

  

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Family or Caregiver Instability, Parental Attachment, and the Relationship to Juvenile Sex Offending

Felizzi MV1.
1a Department of Social Work , Millersville University of Pennsylvania , Millersville , Pennsylvania , USA

A violent or unstable home life-characterized by caregivers physically or sexually abusing children, physical violence in the home, homelessness, and other factors-and disrupted parental attachment are examined in this secondary data analysis for their possible relationship to juvenile sex offending. 

Parent or caregiver instability is measured by a demographic questionnaire administered to participants. Parental attachment is measured by the Inventory of Peer and Personal Attachment. The population included 502 adjudicated juvenile male sexual and nonsexual offenders in a Midwest state who responded to questionnaires in order to examine juvenile offending antecedents. 

The highest correlated parent or caregiver instability variables to juvenile sex offending status were multiple relocations or homelessness, children placed out of the home, slapping or punching in the home, and sexual abuse victimization. The quality of parental attachment had little impact on the respondents' offense status.

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