Transitions to substance use and sexual intercourse among South african high school students.
This study examined longitudinal patterns of initiating substance use and sexual intercourse among a sample of 1,143 high school students from a low-income township in Cape Town, South Africa. Longitudinal data on lifetime incidence of sexual intercourse and alcohol and marijuana use were collected semiannually from 2004 to 2006. Latent transition analysis (LTA) was used to test competing models of transitions to these behaviors. Participants were more likely to move from no risk behavior to substance use, rather than from no risk behavior to sexual intercourse. At all time points, the proportion of youth who had engaged in sexual intercourse but not substance use was very small. The study's limitations and directions for future research are discussed.
Palen
Lori-Ann
LA
RTI International, Research Triangle Park, North Carolina 27709-2194, USA. lpalen@rti.org
Smith
Edward A
EA
Caldwell
Linda L
LL
Mathews
Catherine
C
Vergnani
Tania
T
D000293:Adolescent; D000294:Adolescent Behavior; D000428:Alcohol Drinking / Q000453:epidemiology*; D003075:Coitus; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D015994:Incidence; D008297:Male; D008385:Marijuana Smoking / Q000453:epidemiology*; D011203:Poverty / Q000523:psychology; D012309:Risk-Taking; D013019:South Africa / Q000453:epidemiology; D013334:Students / Q000523:psychology*; D013997:Time Factors