Longitudinal Predictors of Change in Number of Sexual Partners across Adolescence and Early Adulthood

Abstract

Purpose-Although sexual risk behavior has negative consequences in adolescence and early adulthood, little is known about pathways of sexual risk across development and their correlates. Study goals were to examine trajectories of number of sexual partners across adolescence and into early adulthood, and to investigate hypothesized individual and family-level predictors.Methods-A subset of 8,707 White, Black, and Mexican American participants in the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health reported on their motivations to have sex, family warmth, and perceptions of maternal attitudes about sex at Wave 1 and on their sexual relationships at each year of age across the three waves of the study.Results-Multilevel growth curves of number of sexual partners between ages 11 and 27 showed increases in sexual risk across adolescence and deceleration in early adulthood, but differed somewhat as a function of demographic characteristics. As expected, adolescent motivations to have sex and perceptions of permissive maternal attitudes about sex predicted more sexual partners in adolescence, whereas family warmth predicted fewer sexual partners across gender and racial/ethnic groups. Predictors did not differentiate youth as strongly in early adulthood. Interactions between predictors supported a cumulative risk framework, such that perceived permissive maternal attitudes or low family warmth combined with high adolescent motivations to have sex predicted the highest number of sexual partners in adolescence.Conclusions-This study advances our understanding of change in sexual behavior across development and the individual and contextual correlates of such change. Findings document the Correspondence should be addressed to Marni L. Kan, RTI International, P.O. Box 12194, Research Triangle Park, NC, 27709-2194. Telephone: 919-485-2756. Electronic Mail: mkan@rti.org. Notes. Although youth in the study were ages 11 to 27 years, figures depict youth between ages 13 and 23, which represent over 85% of the analytic sample. The figures depict trajectories for female (F) and male (M) youth who were 13, 15, and 17 years old at wave 1, controlling for family structure, maternal education, age at first sexual intercourse, and pubertal timing, when these covariates were significant. The model for Mexican American youth also included generation as a covariate. Some values were negative as a result of formula calculations and were truncated at 0.Publisher's Disclaimer: This is a PDF file of an unedited manuscript that has been accepted for publication. As a service to our customers we are providing this early version of the manuscript. The manuscript will undergo copyediting, typesetting, and review of the resulting proof before it is published in its final citable form. Please note that during the production process errors may be discovered which could affect the content, and all legal disclaimers that apply to the journal pertain. , the number of sexual partners an individual has each year should increase during adolesce...

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“…Another study [14], showed similar variation in different risk factors associated with number of sexual partners between ages 11 and 27 yearsdpermissive maternal attitudes toward sex, low family warmth, and high motivation to have sex among youth were linked to number of sexual partners at age of 17 years; however, these predictors were not consistently linked with number of sexual partners in young adulthood. Existing research shows positive impact of single-behavior prevention programs with young adults [15,16], including brief targeted interventions [17].…”

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