Abstract
Youth who initiate sexual intercourse in early adolescence (age 11–14) experience multiple risks, including concurrent adjustment problems and unsafe sexual practices. The current study tested two models describing the links between childhood precursors, early adolescent risk factors, and adolescent sexual activity: a cumulative model and a meditational model. A longitudinal sample of 694 boys and girls from four geographical locations was utilized, with data collected from kindergarten through high school. Structural equation models revealed that, irrespective of gender or race, high rates of aggressive disruptive behaviors and attention problems at school entry increased risk for a constellation of problem behaviors in middle school (school maladjustment, antisocial activity, and substance use) which, in turn, promoted the early initiation of sexual activity. Implications are discussed for developmental models of early sexual activity and for prevention programming.
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Notes
Maximum likelihood assumes multivariate normality; estimates involving substance use may be less reliable because both observed indicators were dichotomous.
Although not as relevant to the hypotheses of this study, measurement invariance also was assessed for subsamples of youth with and without severe aggressive-disruptive behaviors at school entry (i.e., in the high-risk or normative control groups, based on our screening procedure), and for subsamples of youth above and below the sample median in family SES. In both cases, the change in CFI was less than -.01, suggesting the existence of measurement invariance.
These traditional criteria can be quite restrictive and are not necessary for all conceptualizations of mediation (Dearing and Hamilton 2006).
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Acknowledgment
This work was supported by National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) grants R18 MH48043, R18 MH50951, R18 MH50952, and R18 MH50953. The Center for Substance Abuse Prevention and the National Institute on Drug Abuse also provided support for Fast Track through a memorandum of agreement with the NIMH. This work was also supported in part by Department of Education grant S184U30002 and NIMH grants K05MH00797 and K05MH01027. We are grateful for the close collaboration of the Durham Public Schools, the Metropolitan Nashville Public Schools, the Bellefonte Area Schools, the Tyrone Area Schools, the Mifflin County Schools, the Highline Public Schools, and the Seattle Public Schools. We appreciate the dedication of hundreds of staff members who implemented the project, collected the evaluation data, and assisted with data management. For additional information concerning Fast Track, see http://www.fasttrackproject.org.
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Members of the CPPRG in alphabetical order include Karen L. Bierman (Pennsylvania State University), John D. Coie (Duke University), Kenneth A. Dodge (Duke University), Mark T. Greenberg (Pennsylvania State University), John E. Lochman (University of Alabama), Robert J. McMahon (University of Washington), and Ellen E. Pinderhughes (Tufts University).
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Schofield, HL.T., Bierman, K.L., Heinrichs, B. et al. Predicting Early Sexual Activity with Behavior Problems Exhibited at School Entry and in Early Adolescence. J Abnorm Child Psychol 36, 1175–1188 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10802-008-9252-6
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10802-008-9252-6