The role of religiosity in the relationship between parents, peers, and adolescent risky sexual behavior.
Research has documented a negative relationship between religion and risky sexual behavior. Few studies, however, have examined the processes whereby religion exerts this effect. The present study develops and tests a model of various mechanisms whereby parental religiosity reduces the likelihood of adolescents' participation in risky sexual behavior (early sexual debut, multiple sexual partners, and inconsistent condom use). Structural equation modeling, using longitudinal data from a sample of 612 African American adolescents (55% female), provided support for the model. The results indicated that parental religiosity influenced adolescent risky sexual behavior through its impact on authoritative parenting, adolescent religiosity, and adolescent affiliation with less sexually permissive peers. Some mediating mechanisms differed by the gender of the respondent, suggesting a "double-standard" for daughters but not for sons. Findings also indicated the importance of messages about sexual behavior that are transmitted to adolescents by their peers. Theoretical and policy implications of the findings are discussed.
Department of Child and Family Development, University of Georgia, 305 Sanford Dr., Athens, GA 30602, USA. alandor@uga.edu
Antoinette
A
Landor
Leslie Gordon
LG
Simons
Ronald L
RL
Simons
Gene H
GH
Brody
Frederick X
FX
Gibbons
D000293:Adolescent; D000294:Adolescent Behavior / Q000523:psychology*; D000328:Adult; D001741:Black or African American / Q000523:psychology; D001318:Authoritarianism; D005260:Female; D005845:Georgia; D006801:Humans; D007484:Iowa; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D008297:Male; D008960:Models, Psychological; D009014:Morals; D010287:Parent-Child Relations; D016487:Parenting; D010379:Peer Group; D012071:Religion and Sex; D057566:Self Report; D012737:Sex Factors; D012945:Social Values; D047568:Unsafe Sex / Q000523:psychology*