Early sexual initiation: The role of peer norms
Early sexual initiation: The role of peer norms
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DOI：
10.1542/peds.102.5.1185
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发表时间：
1998-11-01
期刊：
影响因子：
8
通讯作者：
Schwarz, DF
中科院分区：
文献类型：
--
作者：
Kinsman, SB;Romer, D;Schwarz, DF
目标。阐明同伴规范的哪些组成部分影响青少年的性开始过程。设计。前瞻性队列研究。背景。一个城市公立学区的14所小学和中学。在学年开始（时间1）和结束（时间2）完成问卷调查的1389名六年级学生构成研究样本。时间1的平均年龄为11.7岁。在进入六年级的学生中，30% （n = 416）报告已经开始性交，5% （n = 74）报告在六年级学年开始性交（开始组），63% （n = 873）报告在六年级学年结束前没有开始性交（从未组）。人口统计比较显示，加入小组的学生明显比不加入小组的学生更年长（11.9岁对11.6岁），男性（58%对37%），非裔美国人（70%对51%），就读较差的学校（87%对85%），生活在单亲家庭比例较高的地区（45%对41%）。自我报告和同伴参与非性风险行为的报告在发起组的学生中更为常见。发起组的学生比从不组的学生更有可能意识到：1)同龄人中性发起的发生率较高；2)与早期性交相关的社会收益；3)同龄人开始性行为的年龄更小。与有过性经历的一组学生相比，从未有过性经历的一组学生更有可能认为有过性经历的12岁男孩会受到负面的污名化。本研究建立了三个预测模型来检验同伴规范与起始过程之间的关系。这些模型表明，在六年级开始性行为的最强预测因子是在六年级开始时有很高的性倾向。认为大多数朋友都已经有过性行为是高意向最有力的预测因素。对有过性经历的12岁男孩的社会获益和耻辱感的感知与降低过早性行为风险的意愿无关。对许多青少年来说，过早的性行为并不是没有计划的。关于入会的决定与社会背景密切相关，同伴在创造规范行为感方面起着重要作用。同伴规范的特定组成部分以积极和消极的方式影响性开始的过程。旨在推迟性行为开始的干预措施需要关注群体规范以及个人的观念和行为。
Objective. To elucidate which components of peer norms influence the process of sexual initiation for young adolescents.Design. Prospective cohort study.Setting. Fourteen elementary and middle schools in an urban public school district.Participants. The 1389 sixth-grade students who completed the questionnaire at the beginning (time 1) and at the end (time 2) of the school year comprise the study sample. Mean age at time 1 was 11.7 years.Results. Of students entering the sixth grade, 30% (n = 416) reported having already initiated sexual intercourse, 5% (n = 74) reported initiating sexual intercourse during the sixth-grade school year (initiated group), and 63% (n = 873) reported not having initiated sexual intercourse by the end of the sixth-grade school year (never group). Demographic comparisons revealed that students in the initiated group were significantly more likely than students in the never group to be older (11.9 years vs 11.6 years), male (58% vs 37%), African-American (70% vs 51%), attending a poorer school (87% vs 85%), and living in an area with a high proportion of single-parent families (45% vs 41%). Self-reports and reports of peers' participation in nonsexual risk behaviors were more common for students in the initiated group. Students in the initiated group were more likely than students in the never group to perceive: 1) a high prevalence of sexual initiation among peers; 2) social gains associated with early sexual intercourse; and 3) younger age of peers' sexual initiation. Students in the never group were more likely to believe that sexually-experienced 12-year-old boys would be negatively stigmatized compared with students in the initiated group. Three predictive models were developed to test the relationship between peer norms and the process of initiation. These models demonstrate that the strongest predictor of sexual initiation in sixth grade is having high intention to do so at the beginning of sixth grade. The strongest predictor of high intention is belief that most friends have already had sexual intercourse. Perceptions of social gain and stigma for sexually-experienced 12-year-old boys act independently of intention to decrease risk of early sexual initiation.Conclusion. Early sexual intercourse is not an unplanned experience for many teens. Decisions about initiation are strongly bound to social context with peers playing an important role in creating a sense of normative behavior. Specific components of peer norms impact the process of sexual initiation in both positive and negative ways. Interventions aimed at delaying the onset of sexual initiation need to focus on cohort norms as well as on an individual's perceptions and behaviors.