Relationships of parental monitoring and emotion regulation with early adolescents' sexual behaviors.
OBJECTIVE
The purpose of this study was to examine the moderating influence of parental monitoring (e.g., unsupervised time with opposite sex peers) and adolescent emotional competence on sexual behaviors, among a sample of at-risk early adolescents.


METHODS
This study included 376 seventh-grade adolescents (age, 12-14 years) with behavioral or emotional difficulties. Questionnaires were completed on private laptop computers and assessed adolescent Emotional Competence (including Regulation and Negativity/Lability), Unsupervised Time, and a range of Sexual Behaviors. Generalized linear models were used to evaluate the independent and combined influence of Emotional Competency and Unsupervised Time on adolescent report of Sexual Behaviors. Analyses were stratified by gender to account for the notable gender differences in the targeted moderators and outcome variables.


RESULTS
Findings indicated that more unsupervised time was a risk factor for all youth but was influenced by an adolescent's ability to regulate their emotions. Specifically, for males and females, poorer Emotion Regulation was associated with having engaged in a greater variety of Sexual Behaviors. However, lower Negativity/Lability and >1× per week Unsupervised Time were associated with a higher number of sexual behaviors among females only.


CONCLUSIONS
Based on the findings of this study, a lack of parental supervision seems to be particularly problematic for both male and female adolescents with poor emotion regulation abilities. It may be important to impact both emotion regulation abilities and increase parental knowledge and skills associated with effective monitoring to reduce risk-taking for these youth.
*Bradley Hasbro Children's Research Center, Rhode Island Hospital, The Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University, Providence, RI; †Bradley Hasbro Children's Research Center, Rhode Island Hospital, Providence, RI.
Wendy
W
Hadley
Christopher D
CD
Houck
David
D
Barker
Natali
N
Senocak
D000293:Adolescent; D000342:Affective Symptoms / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000523:psychology*; D002648:Child; D002653:Child Behavior Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000523:psychology*; D000066498:Emotional Adjustment; D056348:Emotional Intelligence; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009511:New England; D016487:Parenting / Q000523:psychology*; D010379:Peer Group; D012307:Risk Factors; D012736:Sex Education; D012737:Sex Factors; D012725:Sexual Behavior / Q000523:psychology*; D012932:Social Facilitation; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D047568:Unsafe Sex / Q000517:prevention & control / Q000523:psychology