Abstract
A sample of 274 African American families, living in impoverished neighborhoods with high HIV rates, participated in a longitudinal study of adolescent sexual development when children were in the 4th or 5th grade. Self-report and observational measures of parental warmth and parental behavioral control were collected from adolescents and parents at Time 1, and youth reported if they had initiated intercourse at Times 1 and 2. Regression analyses suggested that gender moderated associations between parental behavioral control and engagement in adolescent sexual behaviors. More generally, findings suggested that boys reared in low control/high warmth (i.e., permissive) homes and girls reared in high control/low warmth (i.e., authoritarian) homes were particularly at risk for early sexual behaviors. Clinical implications and directions for the future research are discussed.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Aiken LS, West SG (1991) Multiple regression: Testing and interpreting interactions. Sage, Thousand Oaks
Baldwin C, Baldwin A, Cole R (1990) Stress-resistant families and stress-resistant children. In: Rolf J, Masten A, Cicchetti D, Neuchterlin K, Weintraub S (eds) Risk and protective factors in the development of psychopathology. Cambridge University Press, New York, pp 257–280
Baumrind D (1972) An exploratory study of socialization effects on Black children: some Black-White comparisons. Child Dev 43:261–267
Baumrind D (1978) Parental disciplinary practices and social competence in children. Youth Soc 9:239–276
Brooks-Gunn J, Paikoff RL (1993) Sex is a gamble, kissing is a game: adolescent sexuality and health. In: Millstein S, Peterson AC, Nightingale AE (eds) Promoting healthy behavior during adolescence. Oxford University Press, New York, pp 180–208
Cauce AM, Hiraga Y, Graves D, Gonzales H, Ryan-Finn K, Grove K (1996) African-American mothers and their adolescent daughters: Closeness, conflict & control. In: Leadbeater B, Way N (eds) In Urban girls: Resisting stereotypes, creating identities. New York University Press, New York, pp 100–116
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (2000) Cumulative AIDS Cases; Exposure Categories; Ten States/Territories and Cities Reporting the Highest Number of AIDS Cases; International Statistics (retrieved June 7, 2002, from http:// www.cdc.gov/hiv/stats/trends98.pdf)
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (2005) HIV/AIDS among youth. HIV/AIDS Surveillance Report. US Department of Health and Human Services, Atlanta
Cross SE, Madson L. (1997) Models of the self: self constructs and gender. Psychol Bull 122(1):5–37
Dornbusch SM, Carlsmith JM, Buschwall SJ, Ritter PL, Leiderman H, Hastorf AH, Gross RT (1985) Single parents, extended households, and the control of adolescents. Child Dev 56:326–341
Fisher JD, Fisher WA (1992) Changing AIDS risk behavior. Psychol Bull 11:455–474
Fletcher AC, Steinberg L, Williams-Wheeler M (2004) Parental influences on adolescent problem behavior: revisiting Stattin & Kerr. Child Dev 75(3):781–796
Gonzales NA, Cauce AM, Mason CA (1996) Interobserver agreement in the assessment of parental behavior and parent-adolescent conflict: african American mothers, daughters, and independent observers. Child Dev 67:1483–1498
Gorman-Smith D, Tolan PH, Zelli A, Huesman LR (1996) The relation of family functioning to violence among inner-city minority youth. J Fam Psychol 10:115–129
Gray MR, Steinberg L (1999) Unpacking authoritative parenting: reassessing a multidimensional construct. J Marriage Fam 61(3):574–587
Hatchett SJ, Jackson JS (1993) African American extended kin systems. In: McAdoo, HP (ed) Family ethnicity: Strength in diversity. Sage, Newbury, Park, CA, pp 90–108
Hill JP, Holmbeck GN (1986) Attachment and autonomy during adolescence. Ann Child Dev 3:145–189
Hill JP, Holmbeck GN, Marlow L,Green T, Lynch M (1985) Menarcheal status and parent-child relations in families of seventh grade girls. J Youth Adolesc 14:301–316
Holmbeck GN, O’Donnell K (1991) Discrepancies between perceptions of decision-making and behavioral autonomy. In: Paikoff RL (ed) Shared views in the family during adolescence: New directions for child development.Jossey-Bass, San Franscisco, pp 51–70
Holmbeck GN, Paikoff RL, Brooks-Gunn J (1995).Parenting adolescents. In: Bornstein MH (ed) Handbook of parenting, Vol. 1: Children and parenting. Lawrence Erlbaum, New Jersey
Holmbeck GN, Paikoff RL, Jarrett RL, Belvedere M, Gorey-Ferguson L, Schneider J, Williams S (1996) Family Macro-Coding Manual: NIMH Dyadic Version. Unpublished coding manual. Loyola University of Chicago
Jaccard J, Dittus PJ, Gordon VV (1996) Maternal correlates of adolescent sexual and contraceptive behavior. Fam Plann Perspect 28:159–165
Jaccard J, Dittus PJ, Gordon VV (2000) Parent-teen communication about premarital sex: factors associated with the extent of communication. J Adolesc Res 15(2):187–208
Jemmott JB, Jemmott LS (1992) Increasing condom use intentions among sexually active Black adolescent women. Nurs Res 41:273–279
Kelley ML, Power TG, Wimbush DD (1992) Determinants of disciplinary practices in low-income Black mothers. Child Dev 63:573–582
Kotchick BA, Dorsey S, Miller KS, Forehand R (1999) Adolescent sexual risk-taking behavior in single parent ethnic minority families. J Fam Psychol 13:93–102
Kotchick BA, Shaffer A, Miller KS, Forehand R (2001) Adolescent sexual risk behavior: a multi-system perspective. Clinical Psychology Review 21(4): 493–519
Lamborn SD, Dornbusch SM, Steinberg L (1996) Ethnicity and community context as moderators of the relations between family decision making and adolescent adjustment. Child Dev 67:283–301
Levy SR, Lampman C, Handler A, Flay BR (1993) Young adolescent attitudes toward sex and substance use: implications for AIDS prevention. AIDS Educ Prev 5:340–351
Loeber R, Stouthamer-Loeber M, Farrington D, Van Kammen W (1987) Measurement instruments and constructs. In: antisocial behavior and mental health problems: Explanatory factors in childhood and adolescence. Mahwah, Erlbaum, NJ
Lynch DA, Krantz S, Russell JM, Hornberger LL, Van Ness CJ (2000) HIV infection: a retrospective analysis of adolescent high-risk behaviors. J Pediatr Health Care 14:20–25
Maccoby EE, Martin J (1983) Socialization in the context of the family. In: Hetherington EM (ed) Handbook of child psychology: Vol. 4. Socialization, personality, and social development. Wiley, New York, pp 1–102
Mason CA, Cauce AM, Gonzales NA, Hiraga Y (1996) Neither too sweet not too sour: problem peers, maternal control, and problem behaviors in African-American Adolescents. Child Dev 67:2115–2130
Mason CA, Cauce AM, Gonzales N, Hiraga Y, Grove K (1994) An ecological model of externalizing behaviors in African-American adolescents: no family is an island. J Res Adolesc 4:639–655
McBride CM, Paikoff RL, Holmbeck GN (2003) Individual and familial influences on the onset of sexual intercourse among urban African American adolescents. J Consult Clin Psychol 71(1): 159–167
McClelland G, Judd CM (1993) Statistical difficulties of detecting interactions and moderator effects. Psychol Bull 114(2):376–390
Meschke LL, Bartholomae S, Zentall SR (2000) Adolescent sexuality and parent adolescent processes: Promoting healthy teen choices. Child Dev 49:143–154
Metzler CW, Noell J, Biglan A, Ary D, Smolkowski K (1994) The social context for risky sexual behavior among adolescents. J Behav Med 17(4):419–438
Miller BC, Benson B, Galbraith K (2001) Family relationships and adolescent pregnancy risk: a research synthesis. Dev Rev 21:1–38
Miller K, Forehand R, Kotchick B (2000) Adolescent sexual behavior in two ethnic minority groups: a multisystemic perspective. Adolescence 35:313–333
Paikoff RL, Parfenoff SH, Williams SA, McCormick A, Greenwood G, Holmbeck G (1997) Parenting, parent-child relationships, and sexual possibility situations among urban African American preadolescents: Preliminary findings and implications for HIV prevention. J Fam Psychol 11(1):11–12
Resnick M, Bearman P, Blum R, Bauman KE, Harris KM, Jones J, Tabor J, Beuhring R, Sieving RE, Shew M, Ireland M, Bearinger L, Udry R (1997) Protecting adolescents from harm: findings from the national longitudinal study on adolescent health. JAMA 278:823–832
Rodgers KB (1999) Parenting processes related to sexual risk-taking behaviors of adolescent males and females. J Marriage Fam 61:99–109
Rothbaum F, Weisz JR (1994) Parental caregiving and child externalizing behaviors in nonclinical samples: a meta-analysis. Psychol Bull 116:55–74
Scaramella LV, Conger RD, Simmons RL (1999) Parental protective influences and gender-specific increases in externalizing and externalizing behaviors. J Res Adolesc 9:111–141
Smetana JG, Abernathy A, Harris A (2000) Adolescent-parent interactions in middle-class African American families: longitudinal change and contextual variables. J Fam Psychol 14(3):458– 474
Smetana JG, Campione-Barr N, Daddis C (2004) Longitudinal development of family decision making: Defining healthy behavioral autonomy for middle-class African American adolescents. Child Dev 75(5):1418–1434
Smetana JG, Yau Restrepo, Braeges J (1991) Adolescent-parent conflict in married and divorced families. Dev Psychol 27(6):1000– 1010
Steinberg L (1987) Familial factors in delinquency: A developmental perspective. J Adolesc Res 2:255–268
Steinberg L (1990) Interdependency in the family: Autonomy, conflict, and harmony in the parent-adolescent relationship. In: Feldman SS, Elliott GR (eds) At the threshold: the developing adolescent. Harvard University Press, Cambridge, MA, pp 255–276
Steinberg L, Mounts N, Lamborn S, Dornbusch S (1991) Authoritative parenting and adolescent adjustment across varied ecological niches. J Res Adolesc 1:19–36
Taylor-Seehafer M, Rew L (2000) Risky sexual behavior among adolescent women. J Soc Pediatr Nurses 5:15–25
Werner NE, Silbereisen RK (2003) Family relationship quality and contact with deviant peers as predictors of adolescent problem behaviors: The moderating role of gender. J Adolesc Res 18(5):454– 480
Zimmer-Gembeck MJ, Collins WA (2003) Autonomy development during adolescence. In: Adams GR, Berzonsky M (eds) Blackwell handbook of adolescence. England:Blackwell, Oxford, pp 175–204
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Additional information
Doctoral Candidate in Clinical Psychology at Loyola University Chicago. Received her B.S. in Psychology and African & African American Studies from Duke University and her M.A. in Clinical Psychology from Loyola University Chicago. Her major research interests include the role of family and mental health factors in HIV risk exposure among urban African American adolescents.
Professor, Department of Psychology, Loyola University Chicago. Received his Ph.D. in 1987 from Virginia Commonwealth University. His major research interests are family relations during adolescence, physical disabilities, pediatric psychology, developmental psychopathology, and statistical applications in psychology
Associate Professor of Psychology in the Department of Psychiatry, Institute for Juvenile Research, University of Illinois, Chicago. Received her PhD in Child Psychology from the Institute of Child Development at the University of Minnesota in 1987. Her current research interests include developmental transitions during adolescence, as well as from pre-school to middle childhood, among typically developing children as well as children with special needs
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Kapungu, C.T., Holmbeck, G.N. & Paikoff, R.L. Longitudinal Association Between Parenting Practices and Early Sexual Risk Behaviors among Urban African American Adolescents: The Moderating Role of Gender. J Youth Adolescence 35, 783–794 (2006). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10964-006-9102-1
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10964-006-9102-1