South African Adolescents: Pathways to Risky Sexual Behavior

• NCJ Number: 215242
• Journal: AIDS Education and Prevention Volume: 18 Issue: 3 Dated: June 2006 Pages: 259-272
• Author(s): David W. Brook; Neo K. Morojele; Chenshu Zhang; Judith S. Brook
• Date Published: June 2006
• Length: 14 pages
• Grant Number(s): DA00244; TW01344; TW05391
• Sponsoring Agency: National Institute on Drug Abuse; Fogarty International Ctr
• Publication Format: Article
• Publication Type: Report (Study/Research)
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

This study tested a developmental model of pathways to risky sexual behavior among 633 South-African adolescents, 12-17 years old.

Abstract

This study suggests that programs should aim to foster parenting behaviors that may have a positive influence in reducing adolescents' risky sexual behaviors. Parental influence regarding sexual behaviors could counteract the influence of pressures from deviant peers to engage in risky sexual behaviors. Overall, the findings support the developmental model based on family interactional theory, which proposes five possible pathways to risky sexual behavior, with one exception. The first pathway showed that poverty was related to a weak parent-child relationship. This was in turn related to vulnerable personality and behavioral attributes. These are linked to association with deviant peers who engage in risky sexual behavior. The second pathway showed that poverty was related to associating with deviant peers, which is in turn linked to vulnerable personality and behavioral attributes, as well as risky sexual behavior. The third and fourth pathways indicated that family poverty and deviant peers were directly linked to risky sexual behavior. The one exception to support of the developmental model based on family interactional theory was the failure to find a direct link between personality characteristics and behavioral risk factors and risky sexual behavior. There was a mediating factor, i.e., associating with deviant peers. All of the adolescents were from households in Durban, South Africa. Data were obtained through personal interviews. Topics covered included the adolescent' s sexual behaviors, household poverty levels, vulnerable personality and behavioral attributes, parent-child relations, and deviant peers. Structural equation modeling was used to assess the pathways to risky sexual behavior. The goodness-of-fit index (GFI) was .93. 3 tables, 2 figures, and 38 references