Sexual activity and problem behaviors among black, urban adolescents

Child Dev. 1990 Dec;61(6):2032-46. doi: 10.1111/j.1467-8624.1990.tb03585.x.

Abstract

This article focuses on whether sexual activity is best considered in the same paradigm as adolescent substance use and assault or separately. Among black, inner-city adolescents (N = 705), followed longitudinally since first grade, 3 questions were examined: (1) how these 3 behaviors co-occur, (2) their early family and school precursors, and (3) their relations with adolescent school behavior and parental supervision. The 3 most frequent patterns were compared: no problem behaviors, only sexual activity, and the combination of sexual activity, heavy substance use, and/or assault. In general, the multiproblem adolescents differed from the other adolescents in their behavior and parental supervision. While sex-only males were similar to the no-problem males, sex-only-females differed from the no-problem girls in their family origins. These results suggest that by examining adolescent behaviors in their co-occurring combinations in epidemiologically defined populations, variations in pathways to deviance can be better understood.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't
  • Research Support, U.S. Gov't, P.H.S.

MeSH terms

  • Achievement
  • Adolescent
  • Alcohol Drinking / psychology
  • Black or African American / psychology*
  • Chicago
  • Cohort Studies
  • Humans
  • Juvenile Delinquency / psychology*
  • Marijuana Abuse / psychology
  • Mother-Child Relations
  • Object Attachment
  • Personality Development*
  • Sexual Behavior*
  • Social Environment
  • Urban Population*