Research has demonstrated associations between adolescent sexual behavior and depressive symptoms, but no single study has examined individuals at different ages throughout adolescence and young adulthood in order to determine at what ages sexual behavior may be associated with higher or lower levels of depressive symptoms. Using nationally…

We investigated how family characteristics and experiences during early adolescence predicted timing of sexual initiation. In addition, we investigated adolescent sex and race/ethnicity as potential moderating factors. As part of the Children of the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth-1979 (CNLSY-79), 799 adolescents aged 12 to 15 years provided…

Could we combat poverty by reducing the number of unintended and nonmarital births? This article proposes a federal policy that would provide all women with information about, and free access to, a range of contraceptive services, including long-acting reversible contraceptives; reviews what it is that we do and do not know; discusses several…

The present study investigated how changes in specific dimensions of the parent-adolescent relationship predict adolescent engagement in sexual intercourse and oral sex. Longitudinal data from 1,364 participants in the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD) Study of Early Child Care and Youth Development were gathered at…

Truant youths are likely to engage in a number of problem behaviors, including sexual risky behaviors. Previous research involving non-truant youths has found sexual risk behaviors to be related to marijuana use and depression, with differential effects for male and female youths. Using data collected in a National Institute on Drug Abuse…

Although voluminous research has linked nonresident fatherhood to riskier sexual behavior in adolescence, including earlier sexual debut, neither the causality of that link nor the mechanism accounting for it has been well-established. Using data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth, 1979--the Young Adult Survey (CNLSY-YA), the present…

Although research has repeatedly demonstrated that adolescents' use of sexually explicit Internet material (SEIM) is related to their endorsement of permissive sexual attitudes and their experience with sexual behavior, it is not clear how linkages between these constructs unfold over time. This study combined 2 types of longitudinal modeling,…

Few studies investigating the validity of marijuana use have used samples of truant youths. In the current study, self-reports of marijuana use are compared with urine test results for marijuana to identify marijuana underreporting among adolescents participating in a longitudinal brief intervention for drug-involved truant youths. It was…

There are strong reasons to assume that early onset of puberty accelerates coital debut among adolescent girls. Although many studies support this assumption, evidence regarding the putative causal processes is limited and inconclusive. In this research, longitudinal data from the 1986 Northern Finland Birth Cohort Study (N = 2,596) were used to…

Youth who experience adverse environments in early life initiate sexual activity at a younger age, on average, than those from more advantaged circumstances. Evolutionary theorists have posited that ecological stress precipitates earlier reproductive and sexual onset, but it is unclear how stressful environments interact with genetic influences on…

Depression is the most common psychiatric disorder worldwide. Conservative estimates Suggest that 20% of Americans will experience depression during their lifetime, inflicting high interpersonal, labor market, and health care costs. Although depression is highly heritable, environmental factors can powerfully influence its development both…

Truant youths frequently experience family problems, emotional/psychological issues, substance misuse, and delinquency. They are likely engaging in alcohol use and sexual risk behavior at a higher rate than the general youth population. Early intervention services would benefit them, their families, and society. We present interim findings from an…

Despite the well-established association between adolescent sexual activity and delinquent behavior, little research has examined the potential importance of relationship contexts in moderating this association. The current study used longitudinal, behavioral genetic data on 519 same-sex twin pairs (48.6% female) divided into two age cohorts…

Longitudinal, mixed method research on friendships, conducted over the past two decades with Black, Latino, Asian, and European American boys, reveals three themes: (1) the importance for boys of being able to share their secrets with their close friends; (2) the importance of close friendships for boys' mental health; and (3) the loss of but…

This study examined the trajectories of sexual risk behaviors among adolescents from ages 15 to 23 and factors associated with those trajectories. The sample was 5,419 adolescents from the 1997 National Longitudinal Survey of Youth. Using group-based trajectory modeling, five distinctive trajectory groups were identified. The High group had a high…