Risky Sexual Behavior Among Arrested Adolescent Males: The Role of Future Expectations and Impulse Control.

• NCJ Number: 254398
• Journal: Journal of Research on Adolescence Volume: 30 Issue: 52 Dated: 2019 Pages: 562-579
• Author(s): Alissa Knowles; Jenny K. Rinehart; Laurence Steinberg; Paul J Frick; Elizabeth Cauffman
• Date Published: 2019
• Length: 18 pages
• Sponsoring Agency: Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP)
• Publication Format: Article
• Publication Type: Research (Applied/Empirical); Report (Study/Research); Report (Grant Sponsored); Program/Project Description
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

This study evaluated two predictors of adolescent sexual risk-taking, whether impulse control or future expectations predicted condom use and casual sex.

Abstract

The study focused on whether risky sex occurred among youth who tended to act without thinking about the future, or instead, youth who reported low future expectations. These relationships were considered longitudinally among a sample of sexually active justice-involved adolescent males (N - 752, M age - 15.58), a group at heightened risk for sexual risk-taking. The study found that optimistic expectations for the future predicted a higher likelihood of engaging in consistent condom use; whereas, high impulse control was related to a lower likelihood of casual sex. Implications for intervention and research on positive sexual health are discussed. (publisher abstract modified)