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ABSTRACT
The present study, continuing a recent trend, examined multiple influences on adolescent sexuality, focusing on sexual attitudes because of their influence on sexual behavior. Empirical analyses were based on a nonrandom availability sample of 1,587 public high school students and 1,372 parents. Multiple regression analyses were conducted in three phases to elaborate models for adolescent attitudes about premarital sexual intercourse; separate models were developed for females and males. First, a regression model was developed that featured individual adolescent characteristics (e.g., age, gender, locus of control, self-esteem, and religious participation) as predictor variables. A second regression model was developed that included family characteristics (e.g., number of siblings, number of parents in home, communication with mother and father, family strengths, parent contribution to sexuality education, parental discussion of sexual values, and the sexual attitudes of mother and father). In the final step, multiple regression was conducted on both individual and family factors. Results indicated that (1) the integrated model had more explanatory power than either separate model, and (2) females were influenced by more family factors and males were influenced by more individual factors.
Research on adolescent sexuality often considers the long-term impact of teen pregnancy, noting that teenagers are ill prepared for parenting (Barret & Robinson, 1982; Cannon-Bonaventure & Kahn, 1979; De Lissovoy, 1973). For example, research indicates that adolescents who become pregnant often experience financial difficulties because they are likely to drop out of school, limiting their employment opportunities; the custodial parent is at particular risk (Furstenberg, Levine, & Brooks-Gunn, 1990). Teenagers who marry as a result of pregnancy are also at financial risk because both parents are likely to leave school (De Lissovoy, 1973; Furstenberg, Levine, & Brooks-Gunn, 1990). Adolescents who engage in unprotected coitus, in addition to possible pregnancy, risk being infected with sexually transmitted diseases.
Adolescent sexual attitudes and behavior are influenced by (1) biological and psychological factors within an individual, (2) proximal relationships in family and peer groups, and (3) sociocultural contexts, such as race, religion, school, and the media (Miller & Fox, 1987). Most of the research on adolescent sexuality has been fragmented and decontextualized, focusing exclusively on single variables (e.g., selfesteem, locus of control) or classes of variables (e.g., individual factors, family relationships). Miller and Fox...