Socio-Ecological Predictors of Intercourse Frequency & Number of Sexual Partners among Male & Female African American Adolescents

The current study examined 14 waves of data derived from a large, community-based study of the sexual behavior of impoverished youth between 12 and 17 years of age residing in the Deep South. We used multilevel linear modeling to identify ecological predictors of intercourse frequency and number of sexual partners among gender-specific subsamples. Results indicated that predictors of adolescent sexual behavior differed by both type of sexual behavior and gender. 

• For males, age, maternal warmth, parental knowledge, curfew, self-worth, and sense of community predicted intercourse frequency, while age, parental knowledge, curfew, self-worth, friend support, and sense of community were significantly associated with having multiple sexual partners. 
• Among females, age, curfew, and self-worth exerted significant effects on intercourse frequency, while age, parental knowledge, curfew, and self-worth exerted significant effects on having multiple sexual partners. 

Implications and future directions are discussed.

Table 2

Means, Standard Deviations, and Correlations Among Study Variables at Baseline

	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10
1. Age		−.011	.491a	.373a	.054c	−.024	−.022	−.290a	−.156a	−.114a
2. Gender	–		−.208a	−.340a	.069b	.194	.059c	.122a	.125a	−.055c
3. Frequency of sex	–	–		.628a	−.078a	−.039	−.092a	−.345a	−.256a	−.052c
4. No. of partners	–	–	.532a		−.119a	−.048	−.105a	−.268a	−.256a	−.016
5. Self-worth	–	–	−.102a	−.123a		.027	.208a	.047c	.233a	.144a
6. Friend support	–	–	−.044	−.038	.012		.027	.018	.054c	.073b
7. Maternal warmth	–	–	−.095a	−.099a	.211a	.016		.091a	.255a	.111a
8. Curfew	–	–	−.225a	−.160a	.049	.028	.084a		.205a	−.021
9. Parental knowledge	–	–	−.181a	−.184a	.229a	.067a	.256a	.154a		.097a
10. Sense of community	–	–	−.056	−.025	.158	.065c	.110a	−.034	.103a

Note. Cells above the diagonal are Pearson correlation coefficients. Cells below the diagonal are partial correlations controlling for age and gender.

aSignificant at p < .001.

bSignificant at .001 < p <.01.

cSignificant at .01 < p < .05.

Read more at:  http://ht.ly/SyNl2 

By: Tiarney D. Ritchwood, Amy C. Traylor, Rebecca J. Howell, Wesley T. Church, II, and John M. Bolland
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill; 

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Change in Age-Specific, Psychosocial Correlates of Risky Sexual Behaviors Among Youth: Longitudinal Findings from a Deep South, High-Risk Sample

The current study examined psychosocial predictors of change in intercourse frequency and number of sexual partners among youth within a socio-ecological framework and assessed whether these determinants vary by stage of adolescent development. Longitudinal data were derived from a large, community study of adolescent risky behavior among predominantly high-risk, African American youth. 

Significant predictors of intercourse frequency for early adolescents included age, gender, self-worth, and familial factors; for older youth, age, gender, self-worth, curfews, and sense of community exerted significant effects. 

Among early adolescents, age, gender, self-worth, familial factors, and sense of community predicted change in the number of sexual partners in the previous year, while age, gender, self-worth, parental knowledge, curfews, and sense of community were predictive of change in the number of sexual partners in the previous year among older youth. 

Study implications and future directions are discussed.

Table 4

Results for number of sexual partners in the previous year among early and older adolescents

Predictor	Number of sexual partners
	Early adolescents				Older adolescents
	β	SE	95 % CI	χ2	β	SE	95 % CI	χ2
Intercept	−0.20	0.13	−.47, .07	–	0.63	0.07	.49, .77	–
No. of sexual partners	0.20	0.01	.18, .23	174.64***	0.19	0.01	.17, .20	473.50***
Age	0.24	0.02	.21, .29	155.76***	0.04	0.01	.02, .06	21.48***
Gender	−1.35	0.06	−1.47, −1.23	522.46***	−0.54	0.03	−.60, −.49	390.81***
Self-worth	−0.04	0.01	−.06, −.02	14.85***	−0.03	0.01	−.04, −.02	36.10***
Maternal warmth	0.05	0.02	.01, .08	6.10**	0.005	0.01	−.01, .02	0.30
Parental knowledge	−0.03	0.01	−.05, −.02	15.90***	−0.01	0.003	−.02, −.01	11.59***
Curfew	−0.10	0.02	−.13, −.07	41.75***	−0.04	0.01	−.06, −.03	27.00***
Friend support	−0.01	0.005	−.02, .001	3.23	−0.001	0.003	−.01, .004	0.18
Sense of community	0.02	0.01	.002, .04	4.59*	0.01	0.004	.003, .02	6.49**

*p < .05,

**p < .01,

***p < .001

Read more at: http://ht.ly/Ssism 

By: Tiarney D. Ritchwood, Rebecca J. Howell, Amy C. Traylor, Wesley T. Church, II, and John M. Bolland
Center for Health Equity Research, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, 725 Martin Luther King Jr Blvd, CB#7590, Chapel Hill, NC 27599-7590, USA;