Timing of first sexual intercourse: the role of social control, social learning, and problem behavior.

PIP: Research has suggested the roles of several factors and processes which may affect the timing of first intercourse among adolescents. The roles of pubertal timing, family socialization, psychosocial adjustment, bonds to conventional institutions, problem behavior, and socioeconomic status in the timing of first intercourse were assessed in a sample of 123 male and 166 female White rural adolescents in one rural school district in the eastern US. The sample comprised all students in grades 7-9 in the district's two junior high schools. Respondents' median household income was $14,000, with 12% of families under the poverty level. Most of the written survey questionnaire data is from a 1985 sampling. The majority of students in this longitudinal study had experienced sexual intercourse by age 17. Family socialization and problem behavior were important determinant factors of the timing of first intercourse for both sexes. For boys, the earlier timing of puberty was associated with earlier timing of first intercourse, while social control processes were important for girls. Social class and poor psychosocial adjustment were found to be important for neither gender. Multiple processes influence the timing of first intercourse.^ieng

Antecedents of rural adolescent alcohol use: a risk factor approach.

The present study examines the association between risk factors and alcohol use for a sample of young adolescents in a rural eastern community. Family relations, family structure, marks in school, participation in academic activities, frequency of church attendance, and deviant behavior were found to be significantly associated with alcohol use two years later. No gender or age differences were found in these predictors of alcohol use. These six risk variables were combined to form a risk index. A 3 x 2 x 2 (User group by Gender by Grade) ANOVA was used to examine the association between the risk index score at Year 1 and level of alcohol use at Year 3. Only the main effect for User group was significant. Thus, the number of risk factors at Year 1 was predictive of alcohol use at Year 3. The risk index also predicted frequency of alcohol use in a replication sample. Implications for the risk factor approach, prevention, and intervention are discussed.

Patterns of adult male coresidence among young children of adolescent mothers.

This article uses data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth to examine the coresidence patterns of children and adult males during the first three years of a child's life, with special attention to the children of adolescent mothers. Overall, the most common experience was for the children to have an adult male present over the full period. However, there were differences by race and the mother's age when she gave birth. For example, 83 percent of white children and 47 percent of black children born to mothers aged 20 or older lived with an adult male during their entire early childhood, while three quarters of white children and fewer than one-third of black children born to mothers younger than 18 had a male present in their household over their first three years. Among both races, children of older mothers were significantly more likely than others to be born into a household where an adult male was present. The stability of male coresidence varied significantly by the mother's age among white children, but not among blacks. Overall, black children experienced more changes in male coresidence than whites. Finally, the likelihood that the adult male would be married to the mother was positively associated with white race and the age of the mother when she gave birth.