Urban adolescent girls' perspectives on romantic relationships: initiation, involvement, negotiation, and conflict

Gender Norms and Culture in Asian-Canadian Adolescent Boys’ Anticipating Dating Relationships

Adolescent romantic experiences can have profound developmental significance and may be predictive of future romantic relationships. Despite such potential significance, little is known about the challenges that confront teenage boys when navigating dating relationships. The present study sought to understand how masculine gender norms influence boys’ attitudes and behaviors and the influence of cultural expectations as they anticipate prospective dating relationships. Focus-group discussions were held with adolescent boys ( N = 23), ranging in age from 14 to 18 years, from a multicultural Canadian city. Grounded Theory methodology was used to analyze discussion responses. The Central Category of the grounded theory was Anticipating Getting Experience in Dating, while communicating and benefiting from relationships were subcategories. Masculine Gender Norms arose as the major Contextual Category. The findings demonstrate how these boys attempted to maintain a socially approved masculine status while coincidingly struggling with confidence and the demands of this status. Contextual factors involving peer expectations, social/digital media culture, multicultural context and parents’ expectations additionally contribute to their navigational struggles. Implications for boys’ relational development, in light of masculine gender norms, are addressed. Interventions are suggested to support boys in their development of confidence in romantic communications.

Association between relationship characteristics, sexual health attitudes, and dual contraceptive use among young adult college students aged 18-24

Objective Determine the relationship characteristics, sexual health attitudes, and demographic factors associated with dual contraceptive use among college students. Participants: September-October 2018 via campus email, we recruited College of Public Health students attending a large, urban, public university (N = 424). Methods: Respondents completed a cross-sectional, Web-based sexual health questionnaire. Descriptive statistics were calculated. Multiple logistic regression models were run to determine the association between relationship characteristics, pregnancy and condom attitudes, demographics, and dual use the last time having sex. Results: In independent models, one-unit increase in trust (aOR = 0.982; 95% CI: 0.966-0.998) and commitment score (aOR = 0.987, 95% CI: 0.976-0.999) was inversely associated with dual use while sex with a casual date/acquaintance (aOR = 3.149; 95% CI: 1.550-6.397) was positively associated. In a fully adjusted model for all correlates, only trust score was significant (aOR = 0.982; 95% CI: 0.966, 0.998). Conclusions: Emotion-based constructs may be more influential on dual use behaviors than discrete relationship factors.

The Impact of Relationship Stressors on Trust and Prorelationship Behavior Within Adolescent Romantic Relationships: A Systems Approach

PURPOSE

Trust is an essential component of romantic relationships. It is not understood how youth respond to a relationship stressor, which may impact trust, such as perceiving to be at risk for a sexually transmitted infection or their partner has other sex partners. We used a system science approach to examine feedback between trust and prorelationship behaviors within adolescent relationships.

METHODS

A prospective cohort of clinic-recruited young women (N = 122), aged 16-19 years, completed daily questionnaires on partner-specific feelings and risk perceptions for 18 months. Relationship stressor defined as either perceiving the risk of sexually transmitted infection from a partner or partner had other sex partners. Prorelationship behaviors were more time spent with partner, sex with partner, and/or gift from partner. Time-lagged generalized estimating equation models were used to examine whether a relationship stressor is associated with a decrease in trust and whether prorelationship behaviors changed following the stressor.

RESULTS

Experiencing a stressor was associated with threefold increased odds of having a decrease in trust in the same week (odds ratio [OR] = 3.30, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 2.30-4.72). Trust increased significantly the week following the stressor (OR = 2.09, 95% CI: 1.54-2.85). An increase in trust relative to the week of the stressor was associated with a 65% increase in prorelationship behavior in the week following the stressor (OR = 1.65, 95% CI: 1.20-2.26).

CONCLUSIONS

Data uniquely show that trust is impacted following a relationship stressor and that youth increase prorelationship behaviors following a drop in trust. The findings suggest that adolescents prioritize maintaining trust, which may impact engagement in protective health behaviors.

At risk and in love: A mixed methodexamination of the link between childhood maltreatment and youth relationships

INTRODUCTION

Research indicates that sexual and romantic relationships play an important role in youth well-being and development. This strengths-based perspective sits in tension with the documented risks that youth with histories of maltreatment face in sexual/romantic relationships. We conducted a U.S.-based mixed-method study to examine the connection between childhood maltreatment and youth relationships.

METHOD

We collected retrospective ratings of relationship quality and open-ended comments about those relationships using an online sexual life history calendar. Quantitative analyses drew on data from 98 participants (51 cisgender women, 47 cisgender men) between the ages of 18-25 (M_age = 22.51). Qualitative analyses compared demographically matched subsamples of 19 participants who reported multiple forms of child maltreatment and 20 who reported none.

RESULTS

Quantitative analyses indicated that ratings of relationship stability, intimacy, and pleasure were unrelated to prior abuse or neglect. Qualitative analyses showed the relationships of those with multiple maltreatment histories, compared to those without any maltreatment, to be more often intertwined with and complicated by other hardships (e.g., homelessness).

CONCLUSIONS

Quantitatively, childhood maltreatment appeared unrelated to youth sexual/romantic relationship quality, though we regard those findings with due caution. Complementing this was qualitative evidence of differences between participants based on trauma histories, with those who had experienced childhood maltreatment referring more often to surrounding circumstances and hardships in descriptions of their youth sexual/romantic relationships. These mixed method findings reinforce the importance of youth sexuality research, policy, and practice that takes the broader conditions of young people's lives into consideration.

Weekly variations in feelings of trust predict incident STI within a prospective cohort of adolescent women from a US city

OBJECTIVES

Feelings of intimacy, perceptions of partner concurrency (PPC) and perceptions of risk for an STD (PRSTD) are meaningful and dynamic attributes of adolescent sexual relationships. Our objective was to examine whether variations in these STI-associated feelings and perceptions predicted incident Chlamydia trachomatis and/or Neisseriagonorrhoeae infection within a prospective cohort of urban adolescent women.

METHODS

A cohort of clinic-recruited women aged 16-19 completed daily surveys on feelings and risk perceptions about each current sex partner on a smartphone continuously for up to 18 months. Urine was tested for C. trachomatis and N. gonorrhoeae every 3 months. Daily responses were averaged across the week. As overall means for trust, closeness and commitment were high, data were coded to indicate any decrease in feelings from the previous week. PRSTD and PPC were reverse coded to indicate any increase from the previous week. An index was created to examine the cumulative effect of variation in these feelings and perceptions. Generalised linear models were used to account for correlation among repeated measures within relationships.

RESULTS

For each week that there was a decrease in trust, there was a 45% increase in the risk of being infected with an STI at follow-up (relative risk (RR) 1.45, 95% CI 1.18 to 1.78, P=0.004). Neither a decrease in closeness or commitment, nor an increase in PRSTD or PPC was associated with an STI outcome. Cumulatively, the index measure indicated that a change in an additional feeling or perception over the week increased the odds of an STI by 14% (RR 1.14, 95% CI 1.02 to 1.29, P=0.026).

CONCLUSIONS

A decrease in feelings of trust towards a main partner may be a more sensitive indicator of STI risk than PRSTD, PPC or commitment. The next generation of behavioural interventions for youth will need strategies to address feelings of intimacy within adolescent romantic relationships.

A systematic review and qualitative synthesis of adolescents' views of sexual readiness

AIM

The aim of this study was to synthesize the qualitative evidence investigating adolescents' views on heterosexual readiness.

BACKGROUND

Adolescents' understandings of sexual readiness are often missing in research and debates on sexual health and related concepts like sexual consent. Research to date has predominantly focussed on age and socio-cultural predictors of sexual debut, thus failing to explain how adolescents themselves conceptualize their readiness for heterosexual relations.

DESIGN

A systematic review and thematic synthesis of qualitative evidence.

DATA SOURCES

CINAHL, Psychinfo, PubMed, Web of science were searched, 1985-Feb 2016.

REVIEW METHODS

Critical Appraisal Skills Programme checklist was used to assess methodological quality. A thematic synthesis focused on commonalities and variations in the data from included studies on adolescents' perspectives of their readiness for sex.

RESULTS

Sixteen studies were included. Themes identified were: social learning, relationships and implications for sexual health promotion and practice.

CONCLUSIONS

Adolescents may not view initiating sex as problematic, focusing instead on the rewards sex brings and less on health concerns. Adolescents tend to reproduce dominant gender norms of masculinity and femininity in communication about sexual decision-making, which are sometimes influenced by social scripts of career aspirations and ethnic identity. Age was also significant in adolescents' accounts. Early adolescence is a critical period when understandings of gender equality become embedded, thus an opportunity to engage adolescents in critiquing ideas about gender equality and sexual rights. Further research exploring adolescents' understandings of sexual readiness is required. We recommend a participatory approach to support the inclusion of adolescent voices to inform contextually relevant sexual health promotion strategies.