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Adolescent Sexual Activity: Links Between Relational Context and Depressive Symptoms

  • Empirical Research
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Abstract

Little is known about the impact of the relational context of adolescent sexual activity on depressive symptoms. The present study examined trajectories of depressive symptoms among 6,602 adolescents (44% male, 60% White) taken from a nationally representative study (Add Health). Sexually active youth in romantic and casual relationships were first compared to virgins and then to each other by relational context. Longitudinal, multilevel models examined differences in the course of depressive symptoms based on sexual activity separately by gender and age group (ages 12–14 and 15–18). Results indicated that when compared to virgins, any differences in depressive symptoms by relational context of sex were present prior to youth’s sexual debut. The few significant differences found between youth who had sex in romantic relationships verses those who had casual sex were present before sexual initiation and not maintained over time, suggesting that casual sex in adolescence is not associated with long-term risks for depressive symptoms.

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Acknowledgements

This research uses data from Add Health, a program project designed by J. Richard Udry, Peter S. Bearman, and Kathleen Mullan Harris, and funded by a grant P01-HD31921 from the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, with cooperative funding from 17 other agencies. Special acknowledgment is due Ronald R. Rindfuss and Barbara Entwisle for assistance in the original design. Persons interested in obtaining data files from Add Health should contact Add Health, Carolina Population Center, 123 W. Franklin Street, Chapel Hill, NC 27516-2524 (addhealth@unc.edu).

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  1. Department of Psychology, Temple University, 1701 N 13th St., Weiss Hall, 6th Floor, Philadelphia, PA, 19122, USA

    Kathryn C. Monahan & Joanna M. Lee

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  1. Kathryn C. Monahan
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  2. Joanna M. Lee
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Correspondence to Kathryn C. Monahan.

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Monahan, K.C., Lee, J.M. Adolescent Sexual Activity: Links Between Relational Context and Depressive Symptoms. J Youth Adolescence 37, 917–927 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10964-007-9256-5

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