title: Noncoital sexual interactions and problem behaviour among young adolescents: the Norwegian Longitudinal Health Behaviour Study.
abstract: This paper focuses on whether early onset of noncoital sexual interactions is best considered in the same paradigm as adolescent problem behaviour. Among adolescents (n = 927) followed longitudinally from age 13 to 15, the interrelationships between noncoital sexual interactions and various problem and conventional behaviours were examined. Early onset of noncoital sexual interactions was related to problem behaviour, and the higher ordered the noncoital sexual interaction was, the more strongly it correlated with measures of problem behaviour. This study provides support for the usefulness of the notion of an underlying factor of proneness to problem behaviours, which is relevant when studying developmental change in terms of accumulation of early noncoital sexual experience. It is suggested that in the construction of countermeasures to prevent the negative consequences of early sexual activities among adolescents, it may be useful to target broader correlates of behaviour.
authors.affiliation: Research Centre for Health Promotion, University of Bergen, Norway. jakobsen@psych.uib.no
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Jakobsen
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Rise
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Aas
authors.forename: N
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Anderssen
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D005260:Female; D007722:Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice; D006801:Humans; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D008297:Male; D015999:Multivariate Analysis; D009664:Norway / Q000453:epidemiology; D012044:Regression Analysis; D012307:Risk Factors; D012309:Risk-Taking; D012725:Sexual Behavior; D012920:Social Behavior Disorders / Q000453:epidemiology*; D012925:Social Conformity