Don Sabo

Athletic Participation and Sexual Behavior in Adolescents: The Different Worlds of Boys and Girls

Using multivariate analysis of covariance to test hypotheses about the effects of sports and sexual behavior on a sample of 611 Western New York adolescents, this study concludes that athletic participation and gender interact to influence adolescent sexual outcomes. Female athletes report significantly lower rates of sexual activity than female nonathletes; male athletes report slightly (though not significantly) higher rates than male nonathletes. The gender-specific effect of sports on sexual behavior remains, net of the impacts of race, age, socioeconomic status, quality of family relations, and participation in other extracurricular activities. This paper introduces cultural resource theory to explain how athletic participation influences both traditional cultural scripts and exchange resources, which, in turn, condition the sexual bargaining process and its outcomes for adolescents.

High school athletic participation, sexual behavior and adolescent pregnancy: a regional study

PURPOSE To determine whether high school athletic participation among adolescents in Western New York was associated with reduced rates of sexual behavior and pregnancy involvement. METHODS A secondary analysis of data from the Family and Adolescent Study, a longitudinal study of a random sample of adolescents (ages 13-16 years) from 699 families living in households in Western New York. A general population sample was obtained with characteristics closely matching the census distributions in the area. Interview and survey methods provided data on athletic participation, frequency of sexual relations during the past year, and risk for pregnancy. Bivariate correlations were used to examine relationships among athletic participation, demographic and control variables, and measures of sexual behavior and pregnancy rates. Next, path analyses were done in order to test for hypothesized relationships between athletic participation, sexual behavior, and pregnancy involvement while controlling for age, race, income, family cohesion, and non-athletic forms of extracurricular activity. Variables that were significantly associated with sexual behavior and/or pregnancy involvement were presented for both sexes within the resulting multivariate models. RESULTS Lower income and higher rates of sexual activity were associated with higher rates of pregnancy involvement for both sexes. Family cohesion was associated with lower sexual activity rates for both sexes. For girls, athletic participation was directly related to reduced frequency of sexual behavior and, indirectly, to pregnancy risk. Male athletes did not exhibit lower rates of sexual behavior and involvement with pregnancy than male non-athletes. Boys who participated in the arts, however, did report lower rates of sexual behavior and, indirectly, less involvement with pregnancy. CONCLUSIONS Female adolescents who participated in sports were less likely than their non-athletic peers to engage in sexual activity and/or report a pregnancy. Among male adolescents, athletic participation was unrelated to sexual behavior and pregnancy involvement. Teen pregnancy prevention efforts for girls should consider utilizing sport as a strategic tool.

Televising international sport: race, ethnicity, and nationalistic bias.

This study used both qualitative and quantitative analyses to discern whether the narratives, metaphors, framing devices, and production practices in televised international athletic events differed by the race, ethnicity, or nationality of athletes. About 340 hours of videotapes of 7 televised international athletic events were used to study key aspects of production: (a) commentator descriptions of 161 athletes in 31 competitions, (b) 30 personal interviews drawn from 3 of the events under study, and (c) 5 opening and closing segments that commonly unify themes and metaphors and that produce the look of an event. Six major findings include the following: (a) efforts were made to provide fair treatment of athletes, (b) the treatment of race and ethnicity varied across productions, (c) little evidence of negative representations of Black athletes, (d) representations of Asian athletes drew on cultural stereotypes, (e) representations of Latino-Hispanic athletes were mixed, and (f) nationalistic bias was evident.

Adolescent anabolic steroid use, gender, physical activity, and other problem behaviors

To test the comparative value of strain theory and problem behavior theory as explanations of adolescent anabolic steroid use, this study examined gender-specific relationships among steroid use, physical activity, and other problem behaviors. Based on the United States Centers for Disease Control and Preventions 1997 Youth Risk Behavior Survey, a nationally representative sample of over 16,000 U.S. public and private high school students, binge drinking, cocaine use, fighting, and sexual risk-taking were associated with higher odds of lifetime steroid use. In gender-specific analyses, steroid use was strongly associated with female fighting and smokeless tobacco use as well as male sexual risk. Neither athletic participation nor strength conditioning predicted odds of steroid use after controlling for problem behaviors, nor did steroid-using athletes report more frequent use than steroid-using nonathletes. The studys limitations and policy implications were noted. These data suggest that other problem behaviors such as substance use, fighting, and sexual risk are better predictors of adolescent steroid use than physical activity. Interventions to prevent steroid use should not be limited to male participants in organized sports programs, but should also target adolescents identified as at risk for other problem behaviors.

Jocks, gender, race, and adolescent problem drinking.

Alcohol remains the drug of choice for many adolescents; however, the nature of the relationship between athletic involvement and alcohol misuse remains ambiguous. In this article, we used a longitudinal sample of over 600 Western New York adolescents and their families to explore the gender-specific and race-specific relationships between identification with the “jock” label and adolescent alcohol consumption, specifically problem drinking. Operationalization of problem drinking included frequency measures of heavy drinking, binge drinking, and social problems related to alcohol (e.g., trouble with family, friends, school officials over drinking). Self-identified adolescent “jocks” were more likely to engage in problem drinking than their non-jock counterparts, even after controlling for gender, age, race, socioeconomic status, physical maturity, social maturity, and frequency of athletic activity. Jock identity was strongly associated with higher binge drinking frequency in Black adolescent girls. This study underscores the need to distinguish between objective and subjective meanings of athletic involvement when assessing the relationship between sport and adolescent health-risk behavior.

Anabolic-Androgenic Steroid Use and other Adolescent Problem Behaviors: Rethinking the Male Athlete Assumption:

Based on a national sample of over 16,000 public and private high school students (the 1997 Youth Risk Behavior Survey), we used logistic regression analysis to examine relationships among anabolicandrogenic steroid use and other problem behaviors for female and male athletes and nonathletes. After controlling for age, race/ethnicity, parental educational attainment, urbanicity, and recent exercise, users had significantly greater odds of engaging in other illicit drug, alcohol, and tobacco use, fighting, suicide attempts, sexual risk taking, vehicular risk taking, and pathogenic weight loss behavior, suggesting that steroid use is part of Jessors problem behavior syndrome for adolescents. Despite the stereotypical images of the male athlete user, both nonathlete and female users also faced elevated risks of multiple drug use and other health-compromising behavior. Thus this study rejects the view of steroid use as merely a logical extension of the male athletic cultural imperative.

Men's health studies: origins and trends.

Abstract This article provides a brief outline of the development of mens health studies in the United States. Research on mens health is discussed within critical feminist theories that highlight the reciprocality of gender relations as well as power differences between men and women and among male subgroups. A relational theory of gender and health is used to identify both positive-gendered and negative-gendered health synergies that influence the health processes and outcomes of men and women. Several examples of gendered health synergies are presented to illustrate key concepts. Finally, some directions for future research and advocacy with reference to mens health are outlined.

Jocks, Gender, Binge Drinking, and Adolescent Violence

Previous research has suggested a link between athletic involvement and elevated levels of adolescent violence outside the sport context. The present study expanded on this literature by positing differences in the sport-violence relationship across dimensions of athletic involvement (athletic participation vs. jock identity), type of violence (family vs. nonfamily), and gender as well as by examining the impact of binge drinking on the sport-violence relationship. Regression analyses using a sample of 608 Western New York adolescents indicated that (a) jock identity (but not athletic participation) was associated with more frequent violence, (b) jock identity predicted nonfamily violence (but not family violence), and (c) the link between jock identity and nonfamily violence was stronger for boys than for girls. Binge drinking predicted family violence among nonjocks only.

Participation in college sports and protection from sexual victimization

Abstract Some sport sociologists have argued that sport is a male‐dominated institution and sexist culture in which female athletes experience various forms of discrimination, including sexual victimization from coaches and male athletes. Previous research does indicate that female athletes suffer higher rates of sexual victimization from authority figures in sport than their non‐athletic counterparts in education and the workplace, although many studies fail to differentiate adequately between sexual harassment, sexual abuse, sexual assault, and other descriptions that imply variations in the severity of victimization. Researchers have also speculated that athletic participation can protect female athletes from sexual victimization through a variety of social‐psychological mechanisms such as team membership, physical strength, and self‐confidence. This paper reports on the first descriptive analysis to test the “sport protection hypothesis” among both female and male athletes, using cross‐tabulation secondary analyses of data from the National College Health Risk Behavior Survey, conducted in 1995 by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (N = 4,814). United States college students of traditional undergraduate age (18–24) were included in the sample (N = 2,903). Limited support for the protection hypothesis was found. Student athletes were significantly less likely to report sexual victimization during their late high school and early college years than their non‐athletic counterparts. A gender gap in the pattern of reported sexual victimization also appeared between males and females across all student age groups, with females reporting more sexual victimization than males. However, no significant gender gap was found among athletes. The results are discussed in relation to student gender, athletic status, and concomitant health benefits and also to debates about agency and resilience among athletes

Effects of Interscholastic Athletic Participation on the Social, Educational, and Career Mobility of Hispanic Girls and Boys

This study examined the social, educational, and career mobility effects of interscholastic athletic participation on subsamples of Hispanic girls and boys drawn from the High School and Beyond Study (U.S. Department of Education), a 1980 national, longitudinal survey of 14,366 sophomores enrolled in 1,015 public and private schools across the United States. These same students were then contacted for follow-up data collection in their senior year (1982), and again two years (1984) and four years (1986) later. The dependent variables under investigation included popularity, involvement in extracurricular activities, grades, achievement test scores, dropout rates, college attendance, degree progress made, job success and job aspirations.