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Wang W, Yin R, Cao W, Wang Y, Zhang T, Yan Y, Tang K. Assessing parental marital quality and divorce related to youth sexual experiences and adverse reproductive health outcomes among 50,000 Chinese college students. Reprod Health 2022; 19:219. [PMID: 36457034 PMCID: PMC9714071 DOI: 10.1186/s12978-022-01531-6] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/01/2022] [Accepted: 11/22/2022] [Indexed: 12/02/2022] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND This study aimed to investigate the associations between parental marital quality, divorce, and sexual and reproductive health outcomes among Chinese young people. METHODS The study included 51,124 students from a large-scale cross-sectional study in China from 2019 to 2020. The exposures were parental marital quality and legal marital status reported by students. The dichotomous outcomes included sexual experiences, high-risk sexual behaviors, unintended health outcomes, and sexual abuse. Multivariate logistic regression models adjusting for socio-demographic factors were used to assess the relationship between parental marital quality, divorce, and sexual and reproductive health outcomes, stratified by sex. RESULTS A total of 10.72% of the surveyed students' parents had divorced. Participants from divorced family rated perceived parental marital quality less than half of the ratings on a 10-point scale of those from intact family (3.22 vs. 7.44). Parental divorce was associated with a higher likelihood of sexual abuse, high-risk sexual behaviors, and unintended health outcomes. A higher perceived parental marital quality was associated with a lower probability of adverse sexual and reproductive health experiences and outcomes, such as forced penetrative vaginal or anal intercourse (male: OR: 0.73, 95% CI: 0.64-0.83; female: OR:0.71, 95% CI: 0.65-0.77), casual sexual intercourse (male: OR: 0.78, 95% CI: 0.73-0.83; female: OR: 0.77, 95% CI: 0.72-0.83), and sexually transmitted infections (male: OR: 0.79, 95% CI: 0.70-0.89; female: OR: 0.82, 95% CI: 0.73-0.91). CONCLUSIONS Parental marital quality and status are associated with poorer sexual and reproductive health outcomes among young adults, suggesting that specific intervention programs should be implemented for children from unharmonious families or divorced families to prevent adverse sexual and reproductive health outcomes.
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Affiliation(s)
- Wen Wang
- grid.12527.330000 0001 0662 3178Vanke School of Public Health, Tsinghua University, No. 30 Shuangqing Road, Haidian District, Beijing, 100084 China
| | - Ruoyu Yin
- grid.59025.3b0000 0001 2224 0361Lee Kong Chian School of Medicine, Nanyang Technological University, 11 Mandalay Road, Singapore, 308232 Singapore
| | - Wenzhen Cao
- grid.268099.c0000 0001 0348 3990School of Public Health and Management, Wenzhou Medical University, Chashan University Town, Wenzhou, 325035 Zhejiang China
| | - Yu Wang
- grid.8547.e0000 0001 0125 2443Fudan University Law School, No. 2005 Song Hu Road, Yangpu District, Shanghai, 200438 China
| | - Tingkai Zhang
- grid.12527.330000 0001 0662 3178School of Life Sciences, Tsinghua University, No. 30 Shuangqing Road, Haidian District, Beijing, 100084 China
| | - Yan Yan
- The Fitting Piece, 68 Redstone Road, Suffield, CT 06078 USA
| | - Kun Tang
- grid.12527.330000 0001 0662 3178Vanke School of Public Health, Tsinghua University, No. 30 Shuangqing Road, Haidian District, Beijing, 100084 China
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Carlson DL, Bellair PE, McNulty TL. Duration-Weighted Exposure to Neighborhood Disadvantage and Racial-Ethnic Differences in Adolescent Sexual Behavior. JOURNAL OF HEALTH AND SOCIAL BEHAVIOR 2022; 63:71-89. [PMID: 34605702 DOI: 10.1177/00221465211046361] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/13/2023]
Abstract
Racial-ethnic disparities in adolescent sexual risk behavior are associated with health disparities during adulthood and are therefore important to understand. Some scholars argue that neighborhood disadvantage induces disparities, yet prior research is mixed. We extend neighborhood-effects research by addressing long-term exposure to neighborhood disadvantage and estimation bias resulting from inclusion of time-varying covariates. Drawing from the Fragile Families and Child Well-Being Study, we compare a point-in-time proximal measure of neighborhood disadvantage with a duration-weighted measure using marginal structural models with inverse probability of treatment weights. Findings indicate that multiracial, non-Hispanic black, and Hispanic youth exhibit significantly higher sexual risk and duration-weighted exposure to neighborhood disadvantage than non-Hispanic white adolescents. Duration-weighted exposure is a better predictor of sexual initiation and number of partners by age 15 than a point-in-time proximal measure of neighborhood disadvantage and accounts for a substantial portion of the race-ethnic differences in sexual risk.
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Varis H, Hagnäs M, Mikkola I, Nordström T, Puukka K, Taanila A, Keinänen-Kiukaanniemi S. Parental separation and offspring morbidity in adulthood: a descriptive study of the Northern Finland Birth Cohort 1966. Scand J Public Health 2021; 50:601-612. [PMID: 34030537 DOI: 10.1177/14034948211014296] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/16/2022]
Abstract
Aims: Rates of parental separation have increased dramatically in recent decades. We evaluated the association of individuals' childhood family structure with their somatic health over 46 years of follow-up. Methods: Data were drawn from the Northern Finland Birth Cohort, an ongoing project in which 12,058 participants born in 1966 have been followed from their 24th gestational week. Based on information supplied at age 14 years, family structure was categorised as 'single-parent family' and 'two-parent family'. The anthropometric information, data from blood samples and medical history were collected from postal questionnaires and clinical examinations routinely performed at the ages of 31 and 46 years. Results: The study population comprised a total of 10,895 individuals; 85% (n=9253) were offspring of two-parent families and 15% (n=1642) of single-parent families. Type 2 diabetes (P=0.032) or prediabetes (P=0.007), psychoactive drug problems (P<0.001) and sexually transmitted diseases (P<0.001) were more common in the single-parent family group than in the participants from two-parent families. In addition, among men back diseases (P=0.002), and among women hypertension (P=0.003) and ovary infection (P=0.024) were more frequent in individuals affected by parental death than in those from two-parent families. Conclusions: Our results indicate the association of childhood family structure with offspring morbidity during 46 years' follow-up. The lifetime morbidity was observed to be higher among offspring from a single-parent family compared to two-parent family offspring. Public and scientific concern about the consequences of parental separation on the offspring' health exist, therefore support from healthcare professionals and society is warranted.
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Affiliation(s)
- Heidi Varis
- Center for Life Course Health Research, University of Oulu, Oulu, Finland.,Rovaniemi Health Centre, Rovaniemi, Finland
| | - Maria Hagnäs
- Center for Life Course Health Research, University of Oulu, Oulu, Finland.,Rovaniemi Health Centre, Rovaniemi, Finland.,Department of Clinical and Experimental Medicine, University of Catania, Catania, Italy.,Diabetes and Obesity Unit, Garibaldi Hospital, Catania, Italy
| | | | - Tanja Nordström
- Center for Life Course Health Research, University of Oulu, Oulu, Finland.,Medical Research Center Oulu, Oulu University Hospital and University of Oulu, Oulu, Finland.,Infrastructure for Population Studies, University of Oulu, Oulu, Finland
| | | | - Anja Taanila
- Center for Life Course Health Research, University of Oulu, Oulu, Finland
| | - Sirkka Keinänen-Kiukaanniemi
- Center for Life Course Health Research, University of Oulu, Oulu, Finland.,Medical Research Center Oulu, Oulu University Hospital and University of Oulu, Oulu, Finland.,Unit of Primary Care, Oulu University Hospital, Oulu, Finland.,Healthcare and Social Services of Selänne, Pyhäjärvi, Finland
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4
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Stritzel H, Gonzalez CS, Cavanagh SE, Crosnoe R. Family Structure and Secondary Exposure to Violence in the Context of Varying Neighborhood Risks and Resources. SOCIUS : SOCIOLOGICAL RESEARCH FOR A DYNAMIC WORLD 2021; 7:10.1177/2378023121992941. [PMID: 35494420 PMCID: PMC9053859 DOI: 10.1177/2378023121992941] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/16/2022]
Abstract
Secondary exposure to violence in the community is a prevalent developmental risk with implications for youths' short- and long-term socioemotional functioning. This study used longitudinal, multilevel data from the Project on Human Development in Chicago Neighborhoods to consider how family structure, including parental instability, is associated with youths' secondary exposure to violence across diverse neighborhood contexts. Results showed that both living in a stable single-parent household and experiencing parental instability were associated with greater secondary exposure to violence compared with living in a stable two-parent household. The associations between having a single parent or experiencing parental instability and secondary exposure to violence were especially strong in neighborhoods with high levels of crime and strong neighborhood ties.
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Foshee VA, Chang LY, McNaughton Reyes HL, Chen MS, Ennett ST. The Synergy of Family and Neighborhood on Rural Dating Violence Victimization. Am J Prev Med 2015; 49:483-91. [PMID: 26296447 PMCID: PMC5916824 DOI: 10.1016/j.amepre.2015.06.005] [Citation(s) in RCA: 19] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/04/2014] [Revised: 05/26/2015] [Accepted: 06/10/2015] [Indexed: 11/25/2022]
Abstract
INTRODUCTION Rural adolescents are at high risk for dating violence victimization (DVV), which has serious negative consequences. Understanding more about the conditions that increase DVV risk for rural adolescents is needed to inform prevention efforts. In response to calls for examining the influence of upper levels of the social ecology on adolescent dating violence, this study examined whether associations between the family context and physical DVV were conditioned by the characteristics of the neighborhoods in which the family resided. METHODS Data were from a multi-wave longitudinal study of 3,236 rural adolescents nested in 65 block groups, which defined neighborhoods. Data were collected between 2003 and 2005. Multilevel growth curve modeling was conducted in 2014 to test hypothesized synergistic effects of the family and neighborhood on trajectories of physical DVV from grade 8 to 12. RESULTS Low parental closeness was a DVV risk in residentially stable (p<0.001), but not unstable, neighborhoods. Family aggression was a DVV risk, regardless of neighborhood characteristics (p=0.001). Low parental monitoring and rule setting were not DVV risks and their effects were not moderated by neighborhood characteristics. Neighborhood ethnic heterogeneity was significantly (p<0.05) positively associated with DVV, but neighborhood economic disadvantage, social disorganization, and violence were not associated with DVV. None of the effects varied by sex of the adolescent, across time (grade), or by the combination of sex and time. CONCLUSIONS Findings demonstrate the importance of considering the family and neighborhood, and particularly their synergistic effects in efforts to prevent adolescent DVV.
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Affiliation(s)
- Vangie A Foshee
- Department of Health Behavior, Gillings School of Global Public Health, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, North Carolina.
| | - Ling-Yin Chang
- Department of Health Behavior, Gillings School of Global Public Health, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, North Carolina
| | - H Luz McNaughton Reyes
- Department of Health Behavior, Gillings School of Global Public Health, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, North Carolina
| | - May S Chen
- Department of Health Behavior, Gillings School of Global Public Health, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, North Carolina
| | - Susan T Ennett
- Department of Health Behavior, Gillings School of Global Public Health, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, North Carolina
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Carlson DL, McNulty TL, Bellair PE, Watts S. Neighborhoods and racial/ethnic disparities in adolescent sexual risk behavior. J Youth Adolesc 2014; 43:1536-49. [PMID: 24214727 PMCID: PMC4016194 DOI: 10.1007/s10964-013-0052-0] [Citation(s) in RCA: 39] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/22/2013] [Accepted: 10/23/2013] [Indexed: 11/30/2022]
Abstract
Understanding the determinants of racial/ethnic disparities in adolescent sexual risk behavior is important given its links to the differential risk of teen pregnancy, childbearing, and sexually transmitted infections. This article tests a contextual model that emphasizes the concentration of neighborhood disadvantage in shaping racial/ethnic disparities in sexual risk behavior. We focus on two risk behaviors that are prevalent among Black and Hispanic youth: the initiation of sexual activity in adolescence and the number of sex partners. Using data from the 1997 National Longitudinal Study of Youth (N = 6,985; 48% female; 57% non-Hispanic White) evidence indicates that neighborhood disadvantage--measured by concentrated poverty, unemployment rates, and the proportion of female-headed households--partially explains Black and Hispanic disparities from Whites in the odds of adolescent sexual debut, although the prevalence of female-headed households in neighborhoods appears to be the main driver in this domain. Likewise, accounting for neighborhood disadvantage reduces the Black-White and Hispanic-White disparity in the number of sexual partners, although less so relative to sexual debut. We discuss theoretical and practical implications of these findings.
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Affiliation(s)
- Daniel L Carlson
- Department of Sociology, Georgia State University, P.O. Box 5020, Atlanta, GA, 30302-5020, USA,
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Orgilés M, Carratalá E, Espada JP. Perceived quality of the parental relationship and divorce effects on sexual behaviour in Spanish adolescents. PSYCHOL HEALTH MED 2014; 20:8-17. [PMID: 24788095 DOI: 10.1080/13548506.2014.911922] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/25/2022]
Abstract
Parental divorce has been linked to some risky sexual behaviour in previous studies. Here we examine whether the sexual behaviour of adolescents is related more to the perceived quality of the interparental relationship or to the parents' divorce in a sample from Spain, the country that has experienced the greatest recent increase in marital break-ups in the European Union. Participants were 801 adolescents aged between 14 and 17, who completed questionnaires anonymously. Adolescents who perceive high conflict in their parents' marriages have more sexual activity and engage in more risk practices in some sexual behaviours compared to adolescents with divorced parents and low interparental conflict. When adolescents perceive low conflict, those with divorced parents are more sexually active than adolescents with married parents, but they do not engage in more risk practices. The perceived quality of the parental relationship has a greater negative impact on adolescents than does the type of family structure. The study highlights the need to address the parents' marital relationship in the implementation of prevention programmes of sexual risk behaviours in Spanish adolescents.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mireia Orgilés
- a Department of Health Psychology , Miguel Hernández University , Elche , Spain
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Karriker-Jaffe KJ, Foshee VA, Ennett ST, Suchindran C. Associations of neighborhood and family factors with trajectories of physical and social aggression during adolescence. J Youth Adolesc 2013; 42:861-77. [PMID: 23054352 PMCID: PMC3772661 DOI: 10.1007/s10964-012-9832-1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 18] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/28/2012] [Accepted: 09/26/2012] [Indexed: 10/27/2022]
Abstract
Adolescents develop within multiple contexts that synergistically influence their behavior and health. To understand the simultaneous influence of neighborhood and family contexts on adolescents, this study examined relationships of neighborhood socioeconomic disadvantage, neighborhood social disorganization, family conflict, parent-child bonding and parental control with trajectories of physical and social aggression. The sample included 5,118 adolescents between ages 11 and 18 (50% female, 52% Caucasian) living in predominantly rural areas. Multilevel growth curve models showed an interaction between neighborhood disadvantage, family conflict and gender on the physical aggression trajectories. The interaction suggested more rapid processes of both increase in and desistance from physical aggression over time for boys with high neighborhood disadvantage and high family conflict, as well as a higher starting point, more gradual increase and slower process of desistance over time for girls in similar neighborhood and family contexts. Less parent-child bonding and less parental control also were associated with higher initial levels of physical aggression. For social aggression, an interaction between family conflict and gender showed girls with high family conflict had the highest initial levels of social aggression, with a more gradual increase over time for these girls compared to their male counterparts in high-conflict families or their female counterparts in low-conflict families. Less parent-child bonding was associated with higher initial levels and a faster increase over time of social aggression, and less parental control was associated with higher initial levels of social aggression. The findings suggest early family-based interventions may help prevent perpetration of both physical and social aggression during adolescence.
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9
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Orgilés M, Carratalá E, Carballo JL, Piqueras JA, Espada JP. Factors Associated With Sex Under the Influence of Alcohol Among Adolescents With Divorced Parents. JOURNAL OF CHILD & ADOLESCENT SUBSTANCE ABUSE 2013. [DOI: 10.1080/1067828x.2012.730367] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/27/2022]
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10
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Young R, Johnson DR. Methods for Handling Missing Secondary Respondent Data. JOURNAL OF MARRIAGE AND THE FAMILY 2013; 75:221-234. [PMID: 26113747 PMCID: PMC4477957 DOI: 10.1111/j.1741-3737.2012.01021.x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 15] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/21/2023]
Abstract
Secondary respondent data are underutilized because researchers avoid using these data in the presence of substantial missing data. We reviewed, critically evaluated, and tested potential solutions to this problem. Five strategies of dealing with missing partner data are reviewed: complete case analysis, inverse probability weighting, correction with a Heckman selection model, maximum likelihood estimation, and multiple imputation. Two approaches were used to evaluate the performance of these methods. First, we used data from the National Survey of Fertility Barriers (N = 1,666) to estimate a model predicting marital quality based on characteristics of women and their husbands. Second, we conducted a simulation based on these data testing the five methods and compared the results to estimates where the true value was known. We found that the maximum likelihood and multiple imputation methods were advantageous because they allow researchers to utilize all of the available information as well as produce less biased and more efficient estimates.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - David R. Johnson
- Department of Sociology, The Pennsylvania State University, 211 Oswald Tower, University Park, PA 16802
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Biello KB, Kershaw T, Nelson R, Hogben M, Ickovics J, Niccolai L. Racial residential segregation and rates of gonorrhea in the United States, 2003-2007. Am J Public Health 2012; 102:1370-7. [PMID: 22594733 PMCID: PMC3433945 DOI: 10.2105/ajph.2011.300516] [Citation(s) in RCA: 36] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 10/23/2011] [Indexed: 11/04/2022]
Abstract
OBJECTIVES In the United States, Black persons are disproportionately affected by sexually transmitted infections (STIs), including gonorrhea. Individual behaviors do not fully explain these racial disparities. We explored the association of racial residential segregation with gonorrhea rates among Black persons and hypothesized that specific dimensions of segregation would be associated with gonorrhea rates. METHODS We used 2003 to 2007 national STI surveillance data and 2000 US Census Bureau data to examine associations of 5 dimensions of racial residential segregation and a composite measure of hypersegregation with gonorrhea rates among Black persons in 257 metropolitan statistical areas, overall and by sex and age. We calculated adjusted rate ratios with generalized estimating equations. RESULTS Isolation and unevenness were significantly associated with gonorrhea rates. Centralization was marginally associated with gonorrhea. Isolation was more strongly associated with gonorrhea among the younger age groups. Concentration, clustering, and hypersegregation were not associated with gonorrhea. CONCLUSIONS Certain dimensions of segregation are important in understanding STI risk among US Black persons. Interventions to reduce sexual risk may need to account for racial residential segregation to maximize effectiveness and reduce existent racial disparities.
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Affiliation(s)
- Katie B Biello
- Yale School of Public Health and Center for Interdisciplinary Research on AIDS, Yale University, New Haven, CT, USA.
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Caughy MO, Franzini L, Windle M, Dittus P, Cuccaro P, Elliott MN, Schuster MA. Social competence in late elementary school: relationships to parenting and neighborhood context. J Youth Adolesc 2012; 41:1613-27. [PMID: 22735918 DOI: 10.1007/s10964-012-9779-2] [Citation(s) in RCA: 23] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/20/2012] [Accepted: 05/31/2012] [Indexed: 11/24/2022]
Abstract
Despite evidence that neighborhoods confer both risk and resilience for youth development, the existing neighborhood research has a number of methodological limitations including lack of diversity in neighborhoods sampled and neighborhood characteristics assessed. The purpose of this study was to address these methodological limitations of existing research and to examine the relationship of neighborhood structural and social characteristics to family-level social processes and teacher-reported social competence during early adolescence. The study sample of 3,624 fifth graders (51 % girls) was ethnically diverse, including roughly even proportions of non-Hispanic White, non-Hispanic Black, and Hispanic youth. Neighborhood measures included economic disadvantage derived from the U.S. Census, physical and social disorder obtained by direct observation, and social capital from parental reports. Family-level social processes included parent reported family cohesion and youth reported maternal and paternal nurturance. We found that neighborhood factors significantly associated with youth social aggression and social competence but not social withdrawal, after controlling for individual demographic characteristics and parenting factors. There was limited evidence of moderation of family influences by neighborhood characteristics as well as the moderation of neighborhood effects by children's gender. Neighborhood physical disorder was associated with increased social aggression among boys but with increased social withdrawal among girls. Implications of the study's findings for research on neighborhoods and adolescent development and the development of preventive interventions are discussed.
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Gardner M, Martin A, Brooks-Gunn J. Exploring the Link between Caregiver Affect and Adolescent Sexual Behavior: Does Neighborhood Disadvantage Matter? JOURNAL OF RESEARCH ON ADOLESCENCE : THE OFFICIAL JOURNAL OF THE SOCIETY FOR RESEARCH ON ADOLESCENCE 2012; 22:135-149. [PMID: 22408364 PMCID: PMC3293489 DOI: 10.1111/j.1532-7795.2011.00752.x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/16/2023]
Abstract
In a sample of urban youth (N = 1,070), we examined the links between primary caregiver affect (i.e., warmth and hostility) and two measures of sexual behavior in adolescence - early sexual initiation and sex with multiple partners. We also examined the extent to which neighborhood disadvantage moderated associations between caregiver affect and adolescent sexual behavior. We found that caregiver hostility was positively associated with early sex and sex with multiple partners in neighborhoods characterized by high levels of disadvantage, but inversely associated with both sex outcomes in neighborhoods characterized by low levels of disadvantage. Caregiver warmth, on the other hand, was inversely associated with early sexual initiation and sex with multiple partners in all neighborhoods regardless of neighborhood disadvantage.
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Affiliation(s)
- Margo Gardner
- Margo Gardner, Anne Martin, and Jeanne Brooks-Gunn, National Center for Children and Families, Teachers College Columbia University
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Connectedness as a predictor of sexual and reproductive health outcomes for youth. J Adolesc Health 2010; 46:S23-41. [PMID: 20172458 DOI: 10.1016/j.jadohealth.2009.11.214] [Citation(s) in RCA: 217] [Impact Index Per Article: 15.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/12/2009] [Revised: 11/21/2009] [Accepted: 11/23/2009] [Indexed: 11/20/2022]
Abstract
To review research examining the influence of "connectedness" on adolescent sexual and reproductive health (ASRH). Connectedness, or bonding, refers to the emotional attachment and commitment a child makes to social relationships in the family, peer group, school, community, or culture. A systematic review of behavioral research (1985-2007) was conducted. Inclusion criteria included examination of the association between a connectedness sub-construct and an ASRH outcome, use of multivariate analyses, sample size of >or=100, and publication in a peer-reviewed journal. Results were coded as protective, risk, or no association, and as longitudinal, or cross sectional. Findings from at least two longitudinal studies for a given outcome with consistent associations were considered sufficient evidence for a protective or risk association. Eight connectedness sub-constructs were reviewed: family connectedness (90 studies), parent-adolescent general communication (16 studies), parent-adolescent sexuality communication (58 studies), parental monitoring (61 studies), peer connectedness (nine studies), partner connectedness (12 studies), school connectedness (18 studies), and community connectedness (four studies). There was sufficient evidence to support a protective association with ASRH outcomes for family connectedness, general and sexuality-specific parent-adolescent communication, parental monitoring, partner connectedness, and school connectedness. Sufficient evidence of a risk association was identified for the parent overcontrol sub-construct of parental monitoring. Connectedness can be a protective factor for ASRH outcomes, and efforts to strengthen young people's pro-social relationships are a promising target for approaches to promote ASRH. Further study regarding specific sub-constructs as well as their combined influence is needed.
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Bolland JM, Bryant CM, Lian BE, McCallum DM, Vazsonyi AT, Barth JM. Development and risk behavior among African American, Caucasian, and mixed-race adolescents living in high poverty inner-city neighborhoods. AMERICAN JOURNAL OF COMMUNITY PSYCHOLOGY 2007; 40:230-249. [PMID: 17932741 DOI: 10.1007/s10464-007-9132-1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 36] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/25/2023]
Abstract
Youths growing up in low-income inner-city neighborhoods are at substantial risk for initiating substance use, violent behavior, and sexual intercourse at early ages; these risk behaviors continue at comparatively high rates through adolescence. Hopelessness has been implicated as a risk factor for these behaviors. In this paper, we consider how race influences this process. African Americans form a demographic minority within the United States, but they are often the majority within inner-city neighborhoods. For Caucasians, the opposite typically holds. Mixed-race populations form a minority within both contexts. Using longitudinal data, we examine the relationship between race and risk behaviors in several impoverished inner-city neighborhoods where African Americans form the distinct majority and Caucasians and people of mixed racial heritage form a small minority. We also consider how race moderates the relationship between hopelessness and risk behavior. Our findings show that compared to Caucasian or mixed-race adolescents, African American adolescents are less likely to engage in risk behaviors, and that hopelessness has a less important impact on their behaviors.
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Affiliation(s)
- John M Bolland
- Department of Health Behavior, School of Public Health, University of Alabama at Birmingham, 1530 3rd Avenue South, Birmingham, AL 45294-0022, USA.
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