The Moderating Role of Sexual Orientation in the Association Between Religiosity and Sexual Behaviors Among College Students

Past research has shown that religiosity can impact sexual behaviors of college-aged youth in both positive and negative directions. As many world religions promote doctrines that include negative views toward sexual minorities, the current study aimed to examine the potentially differential ways religiosity is related to sexual behaviors across various sexual orientations. College/university students across Oregon (N = 1553) completed an online cross-sectional survey in which they provided information about their sexual orientation, levels of religiosity, religious affiliation, and endorsed recent sexual behavior outcomes. Using logistic models in PROCESS, sexual orientation was examined as a moderator of the relations between religiosity (assessed via the Centrality of Religiosity Scale; Huber & Huber) and religious affiliation and the occurrence (yes vs. no) of three sexual behaviors in the past 6 months: birth control use during sex, sexual activity under the influence of substances, and testing positive for an STI. Covariates were age and natal sex. Religiosity was related to reduced birth control use in heterosexual and gay/lesbian individuals. Religiosity was not associated with sexual behaviors in bi/pansexual college students. Findings show that religiosity was a salient construct for understanding sexual behaviors in heterosexual and gay/lesbian college students, but not in bi/pansexual college students. Given that religiosity has differential effects for various sexual behaviors that can heighten risk of negative sexual health outcomes, recommendations are made for increased and tailored sexual health education to religiously identified college students.

A meta-analytic exploration of associations between religious service attendance and sexual risk taking in adolescence and emerging adulthood

Findings since 2000 about the association between the frequency of religious service attendance (formal religiosity) and sexual risk taking in adolescents and emerging adults were explored. A systematic literature search (April 2020) focused on articles with data on religiosity and age at sexual debut, number of sexual partners, condom use at most recent sexual intercourse, and consistent condom use. A total of 27 studies with 37,430 participants (Mage = 18.4, range: 12-25, 43.5% male) were included. In random-effects meta-analysis, the link between formal religiosity and sexual risk taking was significant only for age at sexual debut (r = 0.09, 95% CI = 0.05, 0.13) and the number of sexual partners (r = -0.14, 95% CI = -0.19, -0.09). Weak associations between the constructs of interest indicate that formal religiosity is not sufficient to protect young people's sexual health.

Religious faith and sexual risk taking among adolescents and emerging adults: A meta-analytic review

RATIONALE

Although there is some evidence that religious faith may offer protection against sexual risk taking in adolescence and emerging adulthood, no attempts have been made to systematically quantify the association.

OBJECTIVE

Using data from studies conducted in the 2000-2020 period, this meta-analysis aimed to estimate the link between religious faith and four sexual risk-taking behaviors in samples of adolescents and emerging adults.

METHODS

Five different search systems were used to conduct a systematic literature search in April 2020. Studies that contained quantitative data on religious faith and at least one indicator of sexual risk taking (age at sexual debut, number of sexual partners, condom use at most recent sexual intercourse, and consistent condom use) were searched for. In total, 35 articles published in peer-reviewed journals, in English, were identified. Random-effects meta-analytic approach was used to assess target associations among 41,758 adolescents and emerging adults (M_age = 18.9 years, 37% male). To estimate the effect across the four risk indicators, we employed robust variance estimation (RVE) method.

RESULTS

We found small associations between religious faith on the one hand and age at sexual debut (r = 0.08, 95% CI = 0.03, 0.12) and the number of sexual partners on the other hand (r = -0.15, 95% CI = -0.21, -0.09). No association with condom use was observed. With all studies included, the overall effect size was 0.11 (95% CI = 0.06, 0.16), indicating a small (protective) role of religious faith in young people's sexual risk taking.

CONCLUSIONS

Considering the limited role of religious faith in young people's sexual and reproductive health, comprehensive sexuality education remains essential for risk-reduction, even among more religious young people.

How scientific reasoning correlates with health-related beliefs and behaviors during the COVID-19 pandemic?

We examined whether scientific reasoning is associated with health-related beliefs and behaviors over and above general analytic thinking ability in the general public (N = 783, aged 18-84). Health-related beliefs included: anti-vaccination attitudes, COVID-19 conspiracy beliefs, and generic health-related epistemically suspect beliefs. Scientific reasoning correlated with generic pseudoscientific and health-related conspiracy beliefs and COVID-19 conspiracy beliefs. Crucially, scientific reasoning was a stronger independent predictor of unfounded beliefs (including anti-vaccination attitudes) than general analytic thinking was; however, it had a more modest role in health-related behaviors.

Sexual behaviour in early adolescence: a cross-national comparison of Australian and United States youth

OBJECTIVE

This study used matched samples from schools in the states of Victoria, Australia and Washington, United States (US), to compare sexual behaviour in early adolescence. It was hypothesised that the contrasting dominant policy objectives of harm minimisation in Australia and abstinence in the US would result in state differences for markers of sexual risk, mirroring prior cross-national findings in substance use.

METHOD

A two-stage cluster sampling approach was used to recruit students from the two states. Self-reported sexual behaviour was examined for 1,596 students in annual surveys from Grade 7 in 2002 to Grade 9 in 2004. Prevalence estimates were derived for each measure of sexual behaviour, and comparisons were made between gender groups in each state.

RESULTS

State differences were found for girls' first sex, with significantly more girls in Washington than Victoria having had sex by Grade 7. By Grade 9, significantly more girls in Victoria reported sex in the last year and more sexual partners than girls in Washington. A large proportion of Grade 9 students across both states reported inconsistent contraception use.

CONCLUSIONS

Contradicting the abstinence policy objective, first sex by Grade 7 was more prevalent in Washington than Victoria. Whilst sexual behaviour was more prevalent in Grade 9 in Victoria, the sexually active showed no clear cross-national differences in markers of risk such as contraception use and pregnancy outcomes. Findings demonstrate few cross-national differences in adolescent sexual behaviour despite the different policy contexts of Victoria, Australia and Washington, US.

The Role of Moral Worldviews in Predicting Sexual Behavior From Adolescence to Emerging Adulthood

We examined the relationship between moral worldview and number of sexual partners across 6 years in a nationally representative sample of 2,202 emerging adults. Using negative binomial fixed-effects regression models to control for all time-invariant confounders, we found that while changes toward more orthodox moral worldviews account for differences in number of partners during adolescence, this effect disappears as teens enter emerging adulthood. We explored two possible explanations for this change in effect, including (a) whether moral worldviews are simply standing in for external factors that are actually driving observed behavior and (b) how the effects of moral worldviews may depend on overall levels of orthodoxy. The results lead us to conclude that moral worldviews influence sexual behaviors over time; however, moral worldviews appear to have a significant protective effect only for individuals indicating a high degree of moral orthodoxy. These findings support the idea that moral worldviews impact health behavior during key developmental years.

Why Virginity Pledges Succeed or Fail: The Moderating Effect of Religious Commitment Versus Religious Participation

Over the past two decades, virginity pledges have proliferated in the US, despite mixed results regarding their effectiveness. Few studies have examined possible mechanisms that may shed light on why pledges work for some individuals but not others. Using a sample of emerging-adults aged 18-24 years old (n = 1,380),we examine the influence of religiosity on pledge signing and adherence, specifically whether the effectiveness of pledges is moderated by religiosity. Findings show that while religious participation is positively associated with signing a pledge, there is amoderating effect of religious commitment. That is, when religious commitment is high, adherence to the pledge is greater. However, for pledge signers with low religious commitment, there are unintended negative consequences with regard to increased participation in risky sexual behaviors, whether compared to other people who signed the pledge who are equally committed to their religion or to individuals who have never taken such a pledge. Implications for research and policy are discussed.

Healthy sex and sexual health: new directions for studying outcomes of sexual health

Sexual behavior is an important aspect of adolescent development with implications for well-being. These chapters highlight important perspectives on studying sexual health from a normative, developmental perspective, such as viewing a range of sexual behaviors as life events; considering potentially positive physical health, mental health, social health, and identity outcomes; examining both intraindividual and interindividual differences in outcomes; recognizing the romantic relationship context of sexual behavior; and understanding how sexual media may impact sexual health outcomes. We suggest new directions for studying sexual health outcomes, such as studying behaviors beyond vaginal sex and condom use, new methodologies such as latent class analysis, sophisticated longitudinal designs, and collection and analysis of dyadic data. We recommend research on populations underrepresented in sexual health research such as late adolescents who do not attend traditional universities and adolescents from ethnic/racial minorities. Finally, we consider future directions for sexuality education and prevention efforts.

Sexual health communication within religious African-American families

While research suggests youth prefer parents and family members to serve as the primary sources of sexual health information, fear and discomfort around discussing sex with their parents may leave youth misinformed and underinformed. This study explored sexual heath communication within religious African-American families. Thirty adolescents participated in four focus groups, and 19 adults and 30 adolescents participated in six focus groups, at two predominantly African-American Christian churches in Flint, MI. All data were analyzed inductively using a constant comparison approach. Nearly all participants reported attending church weekly. Three themes emerged and are described: initiating sex talks, using mistakes as teaching tools, and clarifying prevention messages. Participants highlighted the need for religious parents to offer both religious and practical guidance to adolescents about sexual health. Findings from this study may be used to inform future sexual health promotion interventions for religious African-American families.

Religiosity and sexual involvement within adolescent romantic couples

The impact of religiosity in adolescent romantic partnerships on sexual behavior was assessed. Data were obtained from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health reciprocated couples database using religious- and relationship-oriented variables to predict sexual involvement in 374 couples (748 participants). We found that individual- and couple-based religiosity impacted sexual behavior. These findings provide evidence for dyad religiosity as a component involved in the expression of sexual behavior in romantic relationships. The current results highlight the importance of incorporating a broad social perspective in order to understand the expression of adolescent sexual behavior.

Adolescent religiosity and attitudes to HIV and AIDS in Ghana

This study investigated the relationships between adolescent religiosity and attitudes to HIV/AIDS based on two major techniques of analysis, factor and regression analysis towards informing preventive school education strategies. Using cross-sectional data of 448 adolescents in junior high school, the study incorporated survey in a self-administered questionnaire and sought to identify underlying factors that affect pupils' responses, delineate the pattern of relationships between variables and select models which best explain and predict relationships among variables. A seven-factor solution described the 'attitude' construct including abstinence and protection, and six for 'religiosity'. The results showed relatively high levels of religiosity and a preference for private religiosity as opposed to organisational religiosity. The regression analysis produced significant relationships between factors of attitudes to HIV/AIDS and of religiosity. Adolescent with very high private religiosity are more likely to abstain from sex but less likely to use condoms once they initiate: protection is inversely related to religiosity. The findings suggest that religious-based adolescent interventions should focus on intrinsic religiosity. Additionally, increasing HIV prevention information and incorporating culturally relevant and socially acceptable values might lend support to improved adolescent school-based HIV/AIDS prevention programmes.

Religion and Sex Among College Freshmen

The purpose of this study was to use the social networking site Facebook to explore the relationship between religion and sex in emerging adults. Public profiles were examined at four Time points during freshman year. One hundred fifty profiles were analyzed for self-displayed religious affiliation, references to religiosity, and references to sexual behavior. Analyses included mixed-effects logistic regression, mixed-effects Poisson regression, and nonparametric Kruskal-Wallis test. Displayed religious affiliation and references to sexual behavior decreased over the year. References to religiosity slightly increased. Across all Time points, displayers of religiosity had 65% fewer sexual references compared with non-displayers. Facebook is a venue to evaluate how emerging adults are displaying the relationship between religion and sex over time.