Testing the role of adolescent sexual initiation in later-life sexual risk behavior: a longitudinal twin design.
Psychol Sci
; 22(7): 924-33, 2011 Jul.
Article
in En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-21642552
ABSTRACT
The consistent association between adolescent sexual initiation (ASI) and risky adult sexual behavior (RASB) has generally been assumed to indicate that ASI has a causal effect on RASB; consequently, it is assumed that delaying ASI will reduce RASB. Yet the ASI-RASB association might be better accounted for by some third variable. We evaluated the causal role of ASI (initiation of oral, anal, or vaginal sex at or before age 16) in influencing RASB in a longitudinal sample of 2,173 twins (followed from ages 11 to 24 or from ages 17 to 29) using two methods:
the discordant-twin design and the propensity-score design. The former controlled for unmeasured genetic and shared environmental factors, and the latter controlled for measured nonshared environmental factors. We replicated the link between ASI and RASB reported in previous research, but results from the discordant-twin and propensity-score analyses suggested that this association is better explained by common genetic or environmental risk factors than as a causal effect. These findings suggest that preventing ASI is unlikely to reduce RASB.
Full text:
1
Collection:
01-internacional
Database:
MEDLINE
Main subject:
Sexual Behavior
Type of study:
Diagnostic_studies
/
Etiology_studies
/
Observational_studies
/
Qualitative_research
/
Risk_factors_studies
Limits:
Adolescent
/
Adult
/
Child
/
Female
/
Humans
/
Male
Language:
En
Journal:
Psychol Sci
Journal subject:
PSICOLOGIA
Year:
2011
Type:
Article
Affiliation country:
United States