Early and risky sexual behavior in a sample of rural adolescents.
BACKGROUND
Early and risky sexual behavior has been studied primarily in urban adolescents.


METHODS
The purpose of this analysis was to identify psychosocial variables associated with sexual-risk behaviors in a sample of mostly rural adolescents. Six hypotheses were tested, using a resilience framework and data from an ongoing longitudinal study of 255 adolescents.


RESULTS
Sexual-risk status did not differ statistically by gender (p=.654) or socioeconomic status (p=.590). However, adolescents who engaged in sexual-risk behaviors reported significantly lower religiosity (p<.003), lower parental monitoring (p=.002), lower social connectedness (p=.007), and higher levels of peer influence (p<.001) than those engaged in no sexual-risk behaviors. Adolescents engaged in sexual-risk behaviors were also engaged in significantly more other health-risk behaviors such as smoking and drinking (p<.001).


CONCLUSIONS
Findings may be useful for developing interventions that focus on the social influences of peers and parents on rural youth.
School of Nursing, The University of Texas at Austin, Austin, Texas 78701, USA. ellerew@mail.utexas.edu
Lynn
L
Rew
Tracy
T
Carver
Chia-Chun
CC
Li
D000293:Adolescent; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D012069:Religion and Psychology; D055500:Resilience, Psychological; D012307:Risk Factors; D012423:Rural Health; D012944:Social Support; D014481:United States; D047568:Unsafe Sex / Q000517:prevention & control*