title: Emotions and cognitions as correlates of early adolescent sexual behavior among Dominican youth in the United States and Dominican Republic.
abstract: The present study examined cognitive and emotional correlates of sexual decision-making among three groups of Dominican adolescents: (a) Dominican youth who were born and raised in New York City, (b) Dominican youth who recently immigrated to New York City from the Dominican Republic, and (c) Dominican adolescents who were born and currently reside in the Dominican Republic. Data were collected via self-administered questionnaires from Dominican mother-adolescent dyads in New York City (n = 1,008) and the Dominican Republic (n = 213). Across groups, positive emotion constructs were consistently among the most important correlates of intentions to engage in sexual intercourse while issues related to STIs and HIV showed the lowest correlations. Interestingly, positive correlations with intentions to engage in intercourse were found among Dominican-residing males, as were positive correlations with intentions among Dominican-residing females. The implications for HIV prevention programs for Dominican youth are discussed.
authors.affiliation: Silver School of Social Work, New York University, New York, NY, USA. vincent.ramos@nyu.edu
authors.forename: Vincent
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Guilamo-Ramos
authors.forename: James
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Jaccard
authors.forename: Viktor
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Lushin
authors.forename: Gabriel
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Robles
authors.forename: Jane
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.forename: Zahira
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Quiñones
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000294:Adolescent Behavior / Q000208:ethnology / Q000523:psychology; D003071:Cognition / Q000502:physiology*; D003657:Decision Making / Q000502:physiology; D004293:Dominican Republic / Q000208:ethnology; D004644:Emotions / Q000502:physiology*; D005260:Female; D007722:Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice / Q000208:ethnology; D006630:Hispanic or Latino / Q000208:ethnology*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009519:New York City / Q000208:ethnology; D012725:Sexual Behavior / Q000208:ethnology / Q000523:psychology; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D014481:United States / Q000208:ethnology