Abstract
Sex during adolescence is normative; however, there are substantial individual differences in the timing and context of sexual debut. Leisure boredom is an underexplored correlate of sexual behavior that is associated with many adolescent health outcomes. We investigated if and how individual differences in leisure boredom may be associated with timing of sexual debut, and whether individuals engage in safe or risky behaviors at debut. Survival analysis, logistic regression, and Poisson regression were applied to eight-wave longitudinal data obtained from 3,088 South African adolescents (baseline Mage = 13.9 years) to examine associations between leisure boredom and cumulative hazard of sexual debut across adolescence, odds of co-occurring sexual behaviors, and incidence rate of co-occurring sexual risk behaviors at debut. Higher levels of leisure boredom were associated with elevated hazard cumulatively across adolescence. Higher levels of leisure boredom were also associated with lower odds of safe sex and higher odds of substance use during sex and transactional sex at sexual debut, but not casual sex or condom non-use at sexual debut. Although odds of singular risk behaviors were lower for girls than for boys, the association between leisure boredom and the number of risk behaviors at sexual debut was stronger for girls than boys. Higher trait leisure boredom was associated with elevated hazard of sexual debut, greater likelihood that risky behaviors accompanied sexual debut, and greater number of co-occurring risky behaviors at sexual debut. Results support leisure boredom as a potential target for preventing sexual risk behavior among South African adolescents.
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This research was funded by the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) [Grant Numbers R01 DA01749, T32 DA017629]. The views expressed in this article belong to the authors and do not necessarily represent the official views of the granting agency.
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All authors contributed to the study conception and design. Material preparation and data collection were performed by LC, ES, and LW. Analyses were performed by EL and NR. The first draft of the manuscript was written by EL, and all authors commented on previous versions of the manuscript. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.
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Layland, E.K., Ram, N., Caldwell, L.L. et al. Leisure Boredom, Timing of Sexual Debut, and Co-Occurring Behaviors among South African Adolescents. Arch Sex Behav 50, 2383–2394 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10508-021-02014-8
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10508-021-02014-8