Work and sexual trajectories among African American youth.
The beneficial or deleterious effects of employment on youth and well-being have been highly contested. This study explores whether work influences youths' sexual risk correlates in a sample of African Americans (N = 562; 55% females; M = 14.5 years, SD = 0.6 years) followed longitudinally from adolescence to early adulthood. The study used growth curve modeling to test the association between number of hours worked and condom use, sex partners' age differences, and number of partners over time. Working a greater number of hours was associated with less condom use, with the effect varying by youths' grade point average. Working a greater number of hours was associated with older sex partners among female youth. No association was found between work and number of partners. The findings suggest that working during adolescence and early adulthood increased participants' sexual activity, thus lending some support for the work consequences perspective. The implications for future research and youth development programs are discussed.
Bauermeister
Jose A
JA
HIV Center for Clinical and Behavioral Studies, Columbia University and New York State Psychiatric Institute, New York, NY 10032, USA. jb2855@columbia.edu
Zimmerman
Marc A
MA
Gee
Gilbert C
GC
Caldwell
Cleopatra
C
Xue
Yange
Y
D000293:Adolescent; D000294:Adolescent Behavior / Q000208:ethnology* / Q000523:psychology; D001741:Black or African American / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D012725:Sexual Behavior / Q000208:ethnology*; D012747:Sexual Partners / Q000523:psychology*; D012931:Social Environment; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D014937:Work / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*