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Attitudes, Experience, and Anticipation of Sex Among 5th Graders in an Urban Setting: Does Gender Matter?

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Abstract

To identify gender differences in correlates of anticipation and initiation of sexual activity in the baseline survey of 562 African-American 5th grade students prior to initiation of a school-based pregnancy prevention intervention curriculum. Students from 16 elementary schools were administered the baseline questionnaire during classroom periods. Using these data, binary and ordered logistic regression models were used to analyze the factors affecting virginity and anticipation of sexual activity separately by gender, and tests of interaction between each factor and gender were conducted on the combined sample. More boys than girls had already had sex (18% vs. 5%) and anticipated having sexual intercourse in the next 12 months (56% vs. 22%). Boys and girls also differed in the factors that affected these outcomes. The perception that their neighborhood was safe reduced the odds that boys anticipated sexual activity but was not associated with this outcome among girls. Pubertal knowledge increased the odds of anticipation, but only among boys. Attitudes favoring abstinence decreased anticipation of sex among both genders, but slightly more among girls than boys. Having more frequent parent–child communication about sex was associated with increased anticipation among girls but decreased anticipation among boys. Curriculum based approaches to adolescent pregnancy prevention are appropriate for 5th grade elementary students who may already be anticipating sexual activity in communities with disproportionate rates of teen pregnancy. The design of the interventions should consider the differences in motivating factors by gender.

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Notes

  1. We use the significance level of P < 0.10 throughout the paper, to provide information on results that nearly reach the more conventional level of P < 0.05. By noting the variables with P values between 0.05 and 0.10, we succinctly point out results that may be fruitfully considered for further exploration in other studies.

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Acknowledgments

The authors would like to thank the members of the Building Futures for Youth research team of the NIH-DC Initiative to Reduce Infant Mortality for their roles in supporting this research. The authors would also like to thank Allison Rose and Deborah Schwartz for providing valuable comments on earlier drafts of this manuscript. Funding was provided by grants from the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD) Grants 3U18HD030445, 3U18HD030447, 5U18 HD31206, 3U18HD031919, and 5U18HD036104 and the National Center on Minority Health and Health Disparities (NCMHHD). Participating institutions include Howard University, Georgetown University, RTI International, and NICHD.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. DC-Baltimore Research Center on Child Health Disparities, Howard University, Howard University Research Building 1, Room 214, 1840 7th Street NW, Washington, DC, 20001, USA

    Karen M. Anderson & Renée R. Jenkins

  2. RTI International, Research Triangle Park, NC, USA

    Helen P. Koo & Qing Yao

  3. RTI International, Rockville, MD, USA

    M. Nabil El-Khorazaty

  4. Seattle Children’s Hospital, Seattle, WA, USA

    Leslie R. Walker

  5. Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute for Child Health and Human Development, Bethesda, MD, USA

    Maurice Davis

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  1. Karen M. Anderson
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  2. Helen P. Koo
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  3. Renée R. Jenkins
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  4. Leslie R. Walker
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  5. Maurice Davis
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  6. Qing Yao
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  7. M. Nabil El-Khorazaty
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Correspondence to Renée R. Jenkins.

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Anderson, K.M., Koo, H.P., Jenkins, R.R. et al. Attitudes, Experience, and Anticipation of Sex Among 5th Graders in an Urban Setting: Does Gender Matter?. Matern Child Health J 15 (Suppl 1), 54–64 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10995-011-0879-5

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10995-011-0879-5

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