Sexual Development in Adolescence: An Examination of Genetic and Environmental Influences

Clark, David A.; Durbin, C. Emily; Heitzeg, Mary M.; Iacono, William G.; Hicks, Brian M.

doi:10.1111/jora.12540

Cited by 8 publications

(4 citation statements)

References 56 publications

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“…Importantly, the results here are consistent with related studies about peer affiliations, personality and sexual behaviors in adolescence, which have shown that shared environmental influences largely accounted for the association between friend behaviors and less normative sexual behaviors (e.g., early sexual debut; Clark et al, 2020), and between behavioral undercontrol and less normative sexual behaviors (Clark et al, 2021). Taken together, this implies a set of environmental presses that push youth towards behavioral undercontrol, antisocial peer affiliations, and risky sex behaviors.…”

Section: Genetic and Environmental Influences On Personality And Peersupporting

confidence: 91%

Personality and Peer Groups in Adolescence: Reciprocal Associations and Shared Genetic and Environmental Influences

Da¹,

Ce²,

Mm³

et al. 2021

Preprint

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Peer groups provide a critical developmental context in adolescence, and there are many well-documented associations between personality and peer behavior at this age. However, the precise nature and direction of these associations are difficult to determine as youth both select into and are influenced by their friends. We thus examined the phenotypic, genetic, and environmental links between antisocial and prosocial peer characteristics and several personality traits from middle childhood to late adolescence (ages 11, 14, and 17 years) in a longitudinal twin sample (N = 3762) using teacher ratings of personality, and self-reports of peer characteristics. At both within-person and between-person levels of analysis, less adaptive trait profiles (i.e., high negative emotionality, low conscientiousness, and low agreeableness) were associated with more antisocial and fewer prosocial peer characteristics. Associations between personality traits related to emotionality (negative emotionality and extraversion) and peer behavior were largely attributable to shared genetic influences, while associations between personality traits related to behavioral control (conscientiousness and agreeableness) and peer behavior were due to overlapping genetic and shared environmental influences. There was also some evidence for reciprocity and corresponsive processes such that traits in early adolescence contributed to selection into certain peer groups, which in turn extenuated those personality traits. Taken together, results suggest a set of environmental presses that push youth towards both behavioral undercontrol and antisocial peer affiliations, making the identification of such influences and their relative importance a critical avenue of future work.

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Section: Genetic and Environmental Influences On Personality And Peersupporting

confidence: 91%

Personality and Peer Groups in Adolescence: Reciprocal Associations and Shared Genetic and Environmental Influences

Da¹,

Ce²,

Mm³

et al. 2021

Preprint

Self Cite

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show abstract

“…Recently, we showed that item response theory (IRT) models can be used to operationalize a conceptualization of adolescent sexual behaviors as existing along a continuum of "difficulty" defined by their prevalence, providing a quantitative measure of an individual's level of sexual development (Clark et al, 2020). That is, less mature sexual behaviors such as kissing, petting, and dry sex will have lower difficulty values relative to more mature sexual behaviors that tend to occur at later ages such as oral, vaginal, and anal sex (Carver et al, 2003;Clark et al, 2020). For example, dating and kissing are relatively frequent romantic behaviors by middle adolescence and have been associated with positive behavioral correlates (Carver et al, 2003).…”

Section: Adolescent Sexual Developmentmentioning

confidence: 99%

Sexual Behavior and Substance Use in Adolescence and Young Adulthood: Non-specific Associations Between a Range of Sexual Behaviors and Alcohol, Nicotine, and Marijuana Use

Roberts

Clark

Kalina

et al. 2021

Collabra: Psychology

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Sexual behaviors and substance use exhibit high rates of co-occurrence and similar patterns of age-related change, with typical initiation in middle adolescence followed by large increases in late adolescence and emerging adulthood. Because adolescent sexual behaviors are associated with negative health consequences including sexually-transmitted infections and substance use, adolescent sexual behaviors are often conceptualized within a health-risk framework. Sexual development, however, is a normative process important for healthy psychosocial adjustment, with the timing (early vs later initiation) and context (casual vs romantic partner) of sexual behaviors influencing their association with health risks. We tested whether seven common sexual behaviors could be conceptualized as markers along a continuum of sexual development (e.g., from kissing and making out to oral, vaginal, and anal sex) and then examined their associations with various measures of substance use in a sample of adolescents and young adults (N = 626; ages 13-22 years old). We found a 2-parameter logistic item response theory model provided a good fit to the prevalence and covariance among the sexual behaviors, with each behavior holding a different location on a trait representing the progression of sexual development. Each sexual behavior was associated with greater substance use even after adjusting for an early initiation of sexual behavior, current age, biological sex, and socioeconomic status. The results indicate that even normative sexual behaviors have strong and non-specific associations with substance use in adolescence and emerging adulthood.

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“…This is consistent with the lower prevalence rate of anal sex relative vaginal and oral sex. That is, anal sex is a less common and more sexually advanced behavior and may require greater preparation compared to oral and vaginal sex [35]. This may pose a barrier to populations with limited access to certain sexual wellness resources (i.e., lubrication).…”

Section: Plos Onementioning

confidence: 99%

Age, sex, and other demographic trends in sexual behavior in the United States: Initial findings of the sexual behaviors, internet use, and psychological adjustment survey

et al. 2021

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It remains unclear how the seemingly ubiquitous use of the internet impacts user’s offline personal relationships, particularly those that are romantic or sexual. Therefore, we conducted a national online survey to better understand the associations among internet use, sexual behavior, and adjustment called the Sexual Behaviors, Internet Use, and Psychological Adjustment Survey (SIPS). Here, we report patterns of sexual behavior in a sample of adults (N = 1987; ages 18–70) in the United States to establish its representativeness and consistency with similar recent surveys. We found age- and sex-related trends in oral, vaginal, and anal sex in terms of prevalence, frequency, number of partners, and age of initiation consistent with prior studies. We also detected differences in sexual behaviors based on relationship status and sexual orientation, but small and relatively few significant differences across racial and ethnic groups. The results confirm and expand upon trends identified in prior national surveys of sexual behavior, establishing the representativeness of the SIPS sample for use in future research examining the links among sexual behaviors and romantic relationships, internet use, and adjustment.

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Sexual Development in Adolescence: An Examination of Genetic and Environmental Influences

Cited by 8 publications

References 56 publications

Personality and Peer Groups in Adolescence: Reciprocal Associations and Shared Genetic and Environmental Influences

Personality and Peer Groups in Adolescence: Reciprocal Associations and Shared Genetic and Environmental Influences

Sexual Behavior and Substance Use in Adolescence and Young Adulthood: Non-specific Associations Between a Range of Sexual Behaviors and Alcohol, Nicotine, and Marijuana Use

Age, sex, and other demographic trends in sexual behavior in the United States: Initial findings of the sexual behaviors, internet use, and psychological adjustment survey

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