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Sexual Initiation and Emotional/Behavioral Problems in Taiwanese Adolescents: A Multivariate Response Profile Analysis

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Abstract

This study aimed to investigate the relations of adolescent sexual experiences (particularly early initiation) to a spectrum of emotional/behavioral problems and to probe possible gender difference in such relationships. The 10th (N = 8,842) and 12th (N = 10,083) grade students, aged 16–19 years, participating in national surveys in 2005 and 2006 in Taiwan were included for this study. A self-administered web-based questionnaire was designed to collect information on sociodemographic characteristics, sexual experience, substance use, and the Youth Self-Report Form. For the sexually experienced adolescents, their sexual initiation was classified as early initiation (<16 years) or non-early initiation (16–19 years). Gender-specific multivariate response profile regression was used to examine the relationship between sexual experience and the behavioral syndromes. Externalizing problems, including Rule-breaking Behavior and Aggressive Behavior, were strongly associated with sexual initiation in adolescence; the magnitude of the association increased for earlier sexual initiation, especially for females. As to internalizing problems, the connection was rather heterogeneous. The scores on some syndromes, such as Somatic Complaints and Anxious/Depressed, were higher only for females with early or non-early sexual initiation whereas the score on Withdrawn, along with Social Problems that is neither internalizing nor externalizing, was lower for the sexually experienced adolescents than for the sexually inexperienced ones. We concluded that earlier sexual initiation was associated with a wider range of behavioral problems in adolescents for both genders, yet the increased risk with emotional problems was predominately found in females.

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Acknowledgments

This work was supported by grants from the Department of Health, Taiwan (DOH93-NNB-1012, DOH94-NNB-1014, DOH95-NNB-1012, DOH96-NNB-1041, and DOH97-NNB-1018); the DOH had no further role in study design; in the collection, analysis and interpretation of data; in the writing of the report; or in the decision to submit the paper for publication. The authors thank Drs. Chuhsing Kate Hsiao, Chih-Yin Lew-Ting, Ching-Mei Lee, Cheng-Fang Yen, Duan-Rung Chen, Chaucer C.H. Lin, Ming-Jen Yang, and Te-Jen Lai for their help in the design and conduction of the National Survey of Illegal Drug Use among Adolescents.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Epidemiology and Preventive Medicine, College of Public Health, National Taiwan University, 17 Xu-Zhou Road, Taipei, 100, Taiwan

    Chia-Hua Chan, Te-Tien Ting & Wei J. Chen

  2. Department of Behavioral Sciences and Health Education, Emory University, Atlanta, GA, USA

    Yen-Tyng Chen

  3. Department of Public Health, College of Public Health, National Taiwan University, Taipei, Taiwan

    Chuan-Yu Chen & Wei J. Chen

  4. Institute of Public Health, National Yang-Ming University, Taipei, Taiwan

    Chuan-Yu Chen

  5. Division of Mental Health and Addiction Medicine, Institution of Population Health Sciences, National Health Research Institutes, Zhunan, Miaoli, Taiwan

    Chuan-Yu Chen

  6. Department of Psychiatry, College of Medicine and National Taiwan University Hospital, National Taiwan University, Taipei, Taiwan

    Wei J. Chen

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  1. Chia-Hua Chan
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  2. Te-Tien Ting
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  3. Yen-Tyng Chen
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Correspondence to Wei J. Chen.

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Chan, CH., Ting, TT., Chen, YT. et al. Sexual Initiation and Emotional/Behavioral Problems in Taiwanese Adolescents: A Multivariate Response Profile Analysis. Arch Sex Behav 44, 717–727 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10508-014-0265-7

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10508-014-0265-7

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