1-048 - Contextual Influences on Adolescent Sexual Behaviors: An Integrative Ecological Approach

Session Type: Paper Symposium

Integrative Statement

Integrative ecological models explain how adolescents’ sexual behaviors are shaped by several environmental contexts, such as family, peers, religious institutions, society, and culture (Garcia Coll, 1990); yet, less is known on how the intersections of these contexts influence sexual behavior across adolescence. It is critical that research on sexual behavior considers the settings in which adolescents are embedded. Such consideration may extend current understanding on how the social ecologies of adolescents promote or impede healthy sexual development.

Together, the three papers in this symposium will highlight key contextual influences on adolescents’ sexual behaviors using innovative methodology, and national and international samples. Paper 1 uses a national and longitudinal data set to examine how parent, peer, and religious socialization interact to predict adolescents’ sexual behavior, and how these associations differ by gender and race/ethnicity. Paper 2 uses data collected from two-cohorts of adolescents in Mexico to examine the association between paternal solicitation and coital and non-coital sexual behaviors and how the strength of these associations may change across adolescence. Paper 3 examines the roles gender, cultural values, and pressure to have sex have on the association between impulsivity and sexual behaviors in Mexican adolescents. The discussant will provide a context for understanding study findings and will suggest practical implications for researchers, practitioners, and policymakers seeking to promote healthy sexual behaviors in adolescence.

Sub Unit

• Sex, Gender

Chair

• Linda Halgunseth, UCONN

Discussant

• Rosalie Corona, Virginia Commonwealth University

Individual Presentations

• Multidimensional Patterns of Parent, Peer, and Religious Socialization Predicting Adolescent Sexual Behavior - Presenting Author: Sara Vasilenko, Pennsylvania State University; Kari C. Kugler, Pennsylvania State University

• Age Differences in the Association Between Parental Solicitation and Sexual Behaviors among Mexican Adolescents - Presenting Author: Graciela Espinosa-Hernandez, University of North Carolina Wilmington; Sara Vasilenko, Pennsylvania State University; Linda Halgunseth, UCONN; David Garcia, University of North Carolina Wilmington

• The Role of Impulsivity and Sexual Values in Mexican Adolescent Sexuality - Presenting Author: Andrea Mejia, University of North Carolina Wilmington; Graciela Espinosa-Hernandez, University of North Carolina Wilmington; Alissa Dark-Freudeman, University of North Carolina Wilmington