Adolescent Sex, Well-Being, and Normative Contexts

青少年性、福祉和规范背景

基本信息

批准号：
8113560
负责人：
Eric Grodsky
金额：
$ 22.36万
依托单位：
UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA
依托单位国家：
美国
项目类别：
财政年份：
2011
资助国家：
美国
起止时间：
2011-07-01 至 2014-06-30
项目状态：
已结题

项目摘要

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): This research will assess the effects of adolescent sexual activity on health and development across three domains: mental health, academic engagement, and risk behaviors. Adolescent sexual intercourse has clear and direct links to several aspects of physical health: the U.S. teen pregnancy rate is 71 (per 1000 girls 15-19), the teen birth rate is 42, and recent estimates indicate that one in four teen girls (38% of sexually experienced teen girls) have a sexually transmitted infection (STI). We know less about how sexual activity influences other outcomes that shape well-being in adolescence and at later stages in the life course. Prior research links adolescent sex to depression, disinterest in education, and risk behaviors like drug use, but the mechanisms underlying these associations remain ambiguous. Our research will examine how the norms that characterize the social world of adolescents moderate the relationship between their emergent sexual behavior and well- being. Our specific focus is on global and local norms that contribute to the normative context of sex. Global norms reflect general, societal expectations that are typically reinforced by parents and other sources of normative influence. These global norms are more accepting of sex among older teens, boys, and those in romantic relationships. Local norms, in contrast, originate in more immediate social settings and may reinforce, modify or repudiate global norms. We examine normative context at three levels, situating adolescents within friendship networks and within schools. The project has two aims. The first aim is to investigate if and how global norms about adolescent sex condition the association between sex and mental health, school engagement, and risky behavior. The second aim is to analyze the degree to which the influence of global norms is contingent on local norms of friends and schoolmates. We will employ multi-level models and utilize information from most of the data files in the large and comprehensive Add Health archive including saturated school samples and the Adolescent Health Academic Achievement Study. These data are uniquely suited to our analyses of multiple layers of norms and three domains of well-being. Coupled with existing knowledge about sexual behavior and physical health, our investigation will provide a comprehensive portrait of the effects of sex on health and well-being in adolescence. Our focus on normative context highlights an important milieu for promoting adolescent well-being that is rarely discussed in studies of teen sex or in policy circles. PUBLIC HEALTH RELEVANCE: Adolescent sexual intercourse has clear and direct links to aspects of physical health including pregnancy and STIs. This research will explore how sexual activity influences mental health, academic engagement, and risk behaviors. It will consider whether and how the normative context of sex shapes its consequences for health and well-being.

描述（由申请人提供）：本研究将评估青少年性活动对三个领域健康和发展的影响：心理健康，学术参与和风险行为。青少年性交与身体健康的几个方面有明确的直接联系：美国青少年怀孕率为71（每1000名女孩15-19），青少年出生率为42，最近的估计表明，四分之一的青少年女孩（占性经验丰富的青少年的38％）患有性传播感染（STI）。我们对性活动如何影响其他成果在青春期和生命过程中的后期阶段都了解。先前的研究将青少年性别与抑郁症联系在一起，对教育不感兴趣以及诸如吸毒的风险行为，但是这些关联的基础机制仍然模棱两可。我们的研究将研究特征青少年社会世界的规范如何调整其新兴的性行为与福祉之间的关系。我们的具体重点是有助于性别规范背景的全球和地方规范。全球规范反映了普遍的社会期望，这些期望通常由父母和其他规范影响的来源加强。这些全球规范更多地接受了青少年，男孩和浪漫关系的人中的性别。相比之下，地方规范起源于更直接的社会环境，可能会加强，修改或否定全球规范。我们检查了三个层次的规范环境，将青少年置于友谊网络和学校内。该项目有两个目标。第一个目的是调查青少年性别条件的全球规范以及如何在性别与心理健康，学校参与度和危险行为之间的联系。第二个目的是分析全球规范取决于朋友和同学的地方规范的程度。我们将采用多层次模型，并利用大而全面的添加健康档案中的大多数数据文件中的信息，包括饱和学校样本和青少年健康学术成就研究。这些数据独特地适合我们对多层规范和三个福祉领域的分析。再加上有关性行为和身体健康的现有知识，我们的调查将为青春期对健康和福祉的影响提供全面的肖像。我们对规范环境的关注强调了促进青少年福祉的重要环境，这在青少年性别或政策界很少讨论。公共卫生相关性：青少年性交与包括怀孕和性传播感染在内的身体健康方面有明确的直接联系。这项研究将探讨性活动如何影响心理健康，学术参与和风险行为。它将考虑性别的规范背景如何影响其对健康和福祉的后果。