F. Scott Christopher

Early Puberty and Adolescent Pregnancy: The Influence of Alcohol Use

Objective. Early pubertal timing predicts deleterious outcomes for young girls, including substance use, risky sexual behavior, and pregnancy. In turn, adolescent pregnancy predicts long-term negative consequences such as reduced educational attainment and income-earning potential. Despite evidence of the direct links between early puberty and negative outcomes, this study is the first to examine the role that alcohol plays in the timing of sexual intercourse and pregnancy among early-maturing females. Design. Participants were 666 females, aged 18 to 22 years, from 4 major ethnic groups in Arizona (non-Hispanic white, black, Latino, and Native American). All women included in the sample had experienced a pregnancy in their teens or early 20s. Participants completed a self-administered questionnaire that inquired about their timing of menarche, sexual initiation, first alcohol use, and age at first pregnancy. A mediating model predicting age at pregnancy was tested by using path modeling. Results. Early puberty was found to be associated with earlier age of alcohol use and sexual initiation, which in turn predicted early pregnancy. Age at first sexual intercourse and age at first substance use significantly mediated the relation between age at menarche and age at first pregnancy. The results did not vary by ethnic group. Conclusions. Girls who mature early are more likely to engage in early substance use and sexual intercourse, which in turn puts them at greater risk for adolescent pregnancy. It is important that health care providers are sensitive to the risks associated with early maturation among young girls and provide preventive screening, education, and counseling related to alcohol use and sexual initiation for this group.

Evaluation of an Abstinence-Only Adolescent Pregnancy Prevention Program: A Replication.

This second evaluation of an abstinence-only adolescent pregnancy prevention program included 528 children. None of the desired changes in attitudes or behavior occurred for the sample as a whole or for the subgroup who were virgins. Taken in context with a lack of satisfactory results from other abstinence-only programs the federal policy of relying exclusively on abstinence-only programs is called into question. (authors)

Family, Individual, and Social Correlates of Early Hispanic Adolescent Sexual Expression

Investigations of adolescent sexual expression have seldom included Hispanic youth. The current study addressed this deficiency by testing the theory‐based hypothesis that family influences would be stronger predictors of Hispanic adolescent sexual behavior than would individual and social influences. Block regression analyses of the responses of 489 young Hispanic adolescents did not support the hypothesis. However, the control variable of age, measures of attitudes toward premarital sex, and perceived peer sexual involvement predicted Hispanic adolescent sexual behavior. These relationships were stronger for males than for females. The results are consistent with Reference Group theory in that peer, rather than family influences, were more highly related to the sexual expression of young Hispanic teens.

Strategies of Influence in Sex and Dating

This study examined the use of premarital sexual influence strategies and how these strategies were related to the gender and the sexual motivations of single, dating individuals. Participants (n = 366) responded to a 48-item survey that asked about how much they had used specific sexual influence techniques on their most recent date. Principal-components analysis revealed that four general influence strategies, Antisocial Acts, Emotional and Physical Closeness, Logic and Reason and Pressure and Manipulation were used in this interaction. Difference tests revealed multivariate and univariate effects for both gender and motivational state. Further, regression analysis indicated that only the strategies of Emotional and Physical Closeness and Logic and Reason were related to actual sexual behavior. The findings suggest that future investigations may wish to examine the impact of using different strategies on subsequent relationship development.

Premarital sexual aggressors: A multivariate analysis of social, relational, and individual variables

Grounded in social learning theory, this study investigated sex differences in and correlates of premarital sexual aggression using two operational definitions of sexual aggression. Analyses of survey responses from 380 single males and 241 females revealed convergent validity for the two measures and consistency in findings across tests of the three hypotheses. Sexual aggression was more common in mens than in womens dating relationships. Multivariate analyses revealed significant positive associations between premarital sexual aggression and past acts of sexual aggression for women only, between premarital sexual aggression and accepting rape myths for men only, and between premarital sexual aggression and relationship conflict for both men and women. Key Words: dyadic conflict, premarital sexuality, rape myth, sexual aggression, sexual experiences survey, social learning theory. Premarital sexual aggression is a problem that merits serious concern. When sexual aggression occurs in a dating relationship, it is usually not expected, and the aggressor is someone the victim likely trusted. Being a victim of premarital sexual aggression can result in experiencing depression and anxiety at levels comparable with those experienced by victims of sexual assault by a stranger (Koss, Dinero, Seibel, & Cox, 1988). Victims may encounter long-term problems with relationships and sexual functioning (Muehlenhard, Goggins, Jones, & Satterfield,1991). These outcomes, in part, have motivated social scientists to investigate correlates of premarital sexual aggression. Most investigators have focused on individual traits and experiences associated with being sexually aggressive (e.g., Burkhart & Stanton, 1988). A smaller number of scholars have examined how the social environment is related to sexual aggression (e.g., Stets & Pirog-Good, 1989), and even fewer have considered the role of relationship phenomena (e.g., Christopher, Owens, & Strecker, 1993a). Although these investigative directions have been fruitful, most studies have been atheoretical, and only a few have simultaneously considered variables from more than one of these domains (cf. Christopher et al., 1993a; Malamuth, Sockloskie, Koss, & Tanaka, 1991). Moreover, even though premarital sexual aggression occurs with both single men and women (Christopher, Owens, & Stecker, 1993b; Muehlenhard & Cook, 1988; Struckman-Johnson, 1988), scholars have focused almost exclusively on male aggression. This study addresses these weaknesses in the literature. We used social learning theory to inform our investigation of the correlates of premarital sexual aggression, correlates that included peer, relational, and individual-level variables. In this way, we replicated past research by including variables previously found to be associated with premarital sexual aggression in dating, but we also extended past efforts by simultaneously considering the association of variables from the individual, social-environmental, and relational domains to premarital sexual aggression. Moreover, we included single men and women in our sample. SOCIAL LEARNING THEORY Social learning theory provides a useful framework for studying sexual aggression. According to this theory, learning occurs through modeling and by experiencing the consequences of ones behavior (Bandura, 1973, 1977). These two concepts are important for several reasons. First, modeling allows individuals to enlarge their behavioral repertoires. Through what is called the informative function (Bandura, 1977), the observer gains knowledge about the behavior by experiencing the context in which the behavior occurs and how others react to it. Second, by attending to the consequences of ones behavior, a motivational function either strengthens or weakens inhibitions about performing certain behaviors. This allows individuals to experience reinforcement at a vicarious level. …

Anorexic-like behaviors in dietetic majors and other student populations

Abstract The purpose of this investigation was to examine whether or not female university dietetic majors report elevated rates of abnormal eating practices and anorexic-like behaviors when compared with other female university populations. Measures designed to assess the behavioral and psychological traits common to anorexia nervosa and various abnormal eating practices were administered to three groups of females: dietetic majors, students with various majors enrolled in an introductory nutrition course, and students with various majors enrolled in an introductory family studies course. Female students enrolled in the introductory nutrition course scored significantly higher on several of the measures when compared with the other two female populations. These women scored more pathological on measures of a drive for thinness, bulimia, and body dissatisfaction; and they were more likely to vomit and possess less positive eating habits than the dietetic majors and/or family studies students. The female dietetic majors did not differ from the female students in the family studies course on any parameter tested. The present study does not support the current contention that female dietetic majors have high rates of anorexic-like behaviors.

Family and cultural correlates of Mexican-origin youths' sexual intentions.

Understanding how culture and familial relationships are related to Mexican-origin youths’ normative sexual development is important. Using cultural-ecological, sexual scripting, and risk and resilience perspectives, the associations between parent-adolescent relationship characteristics, adolescents’ cultural orientations and familism values, and sexual intentions among 246 Mexican-origin adolescents (50% female) were investigated. Regression analyses were conducted to examine the connections between youths’ cultural orientations and familism values and their intentions to engage in sexual intercourse and to test the moderating role of parent-adolescent relationship characteristics and adolescent sex. For boys, under conditions of high maternal acceptance, higher Anglo orientations and higher Mexican orientations were related to greater sexual intentions. For girls, familism values played a protective role and were related to fewer sexual intentions when girls spent less time with their parents. The findings highlight the complex nature of relationships between culture, family relationships, and youths’ sexual intentions and different patterns for girls versus boys.

Family Guided Sex Education: An Impact Study

The authors describe the content of the Family Guided Sex Education booklet and compare two methods for disseminating the information. Results indicated that parents make positive gains in their role as sex educator when they receive the booklet through the mail or attend a parent meeting.

Sexual Aggression: The Dark Side of Sexuality in Relationships

Abstract Romantic relationships often include sexual interactions. Unfortunately, such interactions may involve sexual aggression whereby one partner uses coercive or assaultive tactics to achieve a sexual goal. In this review, we consider how sexual aggression has been conceptualized, examine rates of occurrence, and note its gendered qualities. In addition, we explore the correlates and social context of sexual aggression in the relationships of teens, young adults, and married couples, as well as in the relationships of gays and lesbians. This approach provided insight into commonalities across the different types of relationships and aided in identifying implications for public policy.

Targeted neighborhood sampling: A new approach for recruiting abusive couples

We conducted two studies to test the utility of a new strategy for recruiting couples experiencing intimate partner violence. This new strategy, Targeted Neighborhood Sampling, involves utilizing police reports of family fight calls to target particular areas within a city for recruitment efforts. Study I compared the efficacy of using this method to recruit a random versus a convenience sample. Results demonstrated that Targeted Neighborhood Sampling was most effective when recruiting a convenience sample of participants who responded to flyers left at their residences. Study II used a convenience sample and replicated the findings from Study I. Across the two studies, 40.4% of those who called after receiving a flyer experienced male-to-female partner violence within the past year. In addition, we combined data across studies and correlated types of violence the couples experienced with variables commonly associated with abuse. Psychological aggression, physical assault, and injury were all positively associated with reports of demand-withdrawal and mutual avoidance during conflict, as well as depression and symptoms of post traumatic disorder syndrome. Sexual coercion was associated with drug abuse. These results demonstrate the utility and validity of Targeted Neighborhood Sampling.