Family environments and the relationship context of first adolescent sex: Correlates of first sex in a casual versus steady relationship.

Limited research has examined how family environments are associated with the relationship context of first sex, an important indicator of reproductive health risk. We use data from the 1997 National Longitudinal Survey of Youth to assess the association between the family environment - parent-parent relationships, parent-adolescent relationships, and family structure - and relationship context of first heterosexual sexual intercourse, distinguishing between the transition to first sex in serious and casual relationships. Twenty-five percent of females and 43% of males who had sex by age 18 did so in a casual relationship.

Relationship Characteristics and the Relationship Context of Nonmarital First Births Among Young Adult Women.

OBJECTIVES: The objectives of this study were to examine whether and how characteristics of the relationship dyad are linked to nonmarital childbearing among young adult women, additionally distinguishing between cohabiting and nonunion births. METHODS: We used the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth, 1997 Cohort and discrete-time event history methods to examine these objectives. RESULTS: Our analyses found that similarities and differences between women and their most recent sexual partner in educational attainment, disengagement from work or school, race/ethnicity, and age were linked to the risk and context of nonmarital childbearing.

Union Transitions Following the Birth of a Child to Cohabiting Parents.

Despite a growing interest in the family trajectories of unmarried women, there has been limited research on union transitions among cohabiting parents. Using data from the 2002 National Survey of Family Growth, we examined how family complexity (including relationship and fertility histories), as well as characteristics of the union and birth, were associated with transitions to marriage or to separation among 1,105 women who had a birth in a cohabiting relationship. Cohabiting parents had complex relationship and fertility histories, which were tied to union transitions.

Trends in sexual experience, contraceptive use, and teenage childbearing: 1992-2002.

Purpose: To examine how cohort trends in family, individual, and relationship characteristics are linked to trends in adolescent reproductive health outcomes to provide a better understanding of factors behind recent declines in teenage birth rates.

Methods: We examine a sample of three cohorts of females and males aged 15-19 in 1992, 1997, and 2002, based on retrospective information from the 2002 National Survey of Family Growth. We identify how family, individual, and relationship characteristics are associated with the transition to sexual intercourse, contraceptive use at first sex, and the transition to a teen birth.

Immigration measures and reproductive health among Hispanic youth: findings from the national longitudinal survey of youth, 1997-2003.

Purpose: To explore relationships between immigration measures and risk of reproductive and sexual events among U.S. Hispanic adolescents.

Condom use and consistency among male adolescents in the United States.

Purpose: To incorporate a behavioral model of health services utilization to examine whether male adolescents' family, individual, sex education, and partner factors are associated with several measures of condom use and consistency in heterosexual relationships.

Methods: We examine a sample of sexually experienced male adolescents 15-19 years of age in the 2002 National Survey of Family Growth (NSFG) to identify factors associated with condom use at first sex and last sex, condom consistency with their most recent sexual partner, and condom consistency in the past 4 weeks.

Results: Male adolescents who were Hispanic and those who did not receive formal sex education had lower odds of condom use and/or consistency, whereas African-American male adolescents and those with more positive attitudes about condoms had greater odds.

Pathways from family religiosity to adolescent sexual activity and contraceptive use.

Context: Few studies with nationally representative longitudinal data have examined whether and how family religiosity is associated with adolescent sexual and contraceptive behavior.

Methods: Data from the 1997 National Longitudinal Survey of Youth were used to examine associations between a multidimensional measure of family religiosity assessed during early adolescence and reproductive health outcomes (sexual activity, number of partners and consistent contraceptive use) at age 17. Pathways through which family religiosity is associated with these outcomes were identified using structural equation models.

Factors Associated With Multiple-Partner Fertility Among Fathers.

This article uses a sample of 1,731 fathers aged 16 - 45 from the 2002 National Survey of Family Growth to identify factors associated with multiple-partner fertility. Almost one third of fathers who reported multiple-partner fertility did so across a series of nonmarital relationships, and nonmarital-only multiple-partner fertility has been increasing across recent cohorts of men. Being older, having a first sexual experience or a first child at a young age, and fathering a child outside of marriage or cohabitation are associated with greater odds of multiple-partner fertility, whereas having additional children with the first birth mother is associated with reduced odds.

Young teenagers and older sexual partners: correlates and consequences for males and females.

Context: Limited nationally representative information exists on the characteristics of teenagers who had first sex at an early age with an older partner.

Methods: Gender-specific analyses were conducted of 2002 National Survey of Family Growth data from 1,838 females and 1,426 males aged 18-24. Multivariate analyses examined the associations between family and individual characteristics and having a first sexual experience before age 16 with an older partner, and between age and partners' age difference at first sex and contraceptive use and having or fathering a child as a teenager.

The role of parent religiosity in teens' transitions to sex and contraception.

Purpose: To examine whether multiple dimensions of parent and family religiosity--including parental religious attendance, denomination, beliefs, and family religious activities--are associated with the timing of sexual initiation or contraceptive use at first sex.

Methods: We analyze a sample of sexually inexperienced adolescents aged 12-14 years in the 1997 National Longitudinal Survey of Youth (NLSY97) to test the association between multiple dimensions of parent and family religiosity and the transition to first sexual experience and contraceptive use at first sex during the teen years. We assess the association between parent and family religiosity and the timing of adolescent sexual experience using multivariate event history models, and examine contraceptive use outcomes using logistic regressions.