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METHODS: Integrative data analysis was performed that combined baseline data from the 1994-1995 National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health (from 17,606 respondents in grades 7-12) and the 1997 National Longitudinal Survey of Youth (from 7,752 respondents aged 12-16). Using six sexual behaviors measured in both data sets (age at first intercourse, various measures of contraceptive use and number of partners), cluster analysis was conducted that identified five distinct behavior clusters. Multivariate ordinal logistic regression analysis examined associations between adolescents' weight status (categorized as underweight, normal-weight, overweight or obese) and weight perception and their cluster membership.

RESULTS: Among males, being underweight, rather than normal-weight, was negatively associated with membership in increasingly risky clusters (odds ratio, 0.5), as was the perception of being overweight, as opposed to about the right weight (0.8). However, being overweight was positively associated with males' membership in increasingly risky clusters (1.3). Among females, being obese, rather than normal-weight, was negatively correlated with membership in increasingly risky clusters (0.8), while the perception of being overweight was positively correlated with such membership (1.1).

CONCLUSIONS: Both objective and subjective assessments of weight are associated with the clustering of risky sexual behaviors among adolescents, and these behavioral patterns differ by gender.

METHODS: Data on participants in the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth and their children are used to profile friendship and dating patterns among a sample of youth born to relatively young mothers. Logistic regression analyses examine whether these patterns predict early sexual initiation, and whether there are differences associated with gender and race.

RESULTS: As youth moved from late childhood to midadolescence, they shifted from having almost exclusively same-sex, same-grade friends to having more relationships with persons who are of the opposite sex and older. By ages 15-16, 34% had had sexual intercourse; the proportion was significantly higher among blacks (45%) than among others (31%). Most adolescents reported neither frequent dating nor a steady partner by ages 15-16, although the prevaleance of such reports was related to friendship patterns in late childhood. Twelve percent of youth who initiated sex in early adolescence did so outside of a dating relationship. For most subgroups examined, the odds of initiating intercourse during early adolescence were associated with going steady, but not with frequency of dating.

CONCLUSIONS: Prior social networking is an important element in predicting early sexual activity. Overall, youth whose mothers gave birth at young ages remain sexually inexperienced into middle adolescence, but certain subgroups are more likely than others to initiate early sexual activity.

METHODS: Multinomial logistic regression was used to investigate the relationship between perceived fecundity at age 25–30 and contraceptive use among 2,091 women from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1997 cohort.

RESULTS: Compared with women who considered themselves very likely to become pregnant, those who thought that they were only somewhat likely and those who viewed themselves as not very likely to do so had significantly higher risks of not using contraceptives within the next year (risk ratios, 1.9 and 2.4, respectively). Results were similar in analyses controlling for either a medical diagnosis of infertility, a history of multiple miscarriages or stillbirths, or absence of pregnancy following at least six months of unprotected sex, suggesting that perceived subfecundity operates independently of experienced subfecundity.

CONCLUSION: Because few studies have investigated fecundity perceptions in their own right, more research is needed to understand how women evaluate their fecundity and to integrate these perceptions into broader frameworks describing women's perception of pregnancy risk. Such work may help identify potential levers to improve contraceptive use.

See: Colen CG et al., Maternal upward socioeconomic mobility and black-white disparities in infant birthweight, American Journal of Public Health, 2006, 96(11):2032-2039.

RESULTS: Infants whose conception was intended by their mother but not their father are at elevated risk of adverse health events. When a pregnancy was not intended by the mother, the risks are higher than they are if both parents intended the pregnancy, but they differ little according to the father's intention. Thus, it may be useful to classify pregnancies as intended by both parents or not intended by at least one. In comparisons of siblings, unintended fertility (so defined) is associated with delayed prenatal care and reduced initiation of breastfeeding.

CONCLUSION: Information on both parent's fertility intentions is needed to identify infants at risk of adverse health and developmental outcomes.

METHODS:
Data collected from the 2002-2005 rounds of the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth yielded a sample of 4,014 dating relationships among sexually active 18-26-year-olds. Bivariate analysis and multivariate logistic and multinomial logistic regressions assessed associations between relationship characteristics and contraceptive use at last sex.

RESULTS:
In three-quarters of the relationships, respondents had used some method at last intercourse; respondents in 26% of the relationships had used a condom only, in 26% a hormonal method only and in 23% dual methods. Compared with respondents in relationships in which first sex occurred within two months of starting to date, those who first had sex before dating were more likely to have used any method at last sex (odds ratio, 1.4), particularly condoms or dual methods (relative risk ratio, 1.5 for each). The relative risk of using a hormonal method only, rather than no method or condoms only, increased with relationship duration (1.01) and level of intimacy (1.1-1.2). Discussing marriage or cohabitation was associated with reduced odds of having used any method (0.7) and a reduced relative risk of having used condoms alone or dual methods (0.6 for each). Increasing levels of partner conflict and asymmetry were also linked to reduced odds of any method use (0.97 and 0.90, respectively).

CONCLUSIONS:
Prevention programs should address relationship context in contraceptive decision making, perhaps by combining relationship and sex education curricula to foster communication and negotiation skills.
Copyright © 2011 by the Guttmacher Institute.

METHODS: Data were analyzed for a sample derived from the Children of the National Longitudinal Surveys of Youth: 1,836 youth who were 10–11 years old at the 1992, 1994 and 1996 waves. Mothers' reports of their child's socioemotional problems at age 10–11 were assessed; sexual initiation before age 15 was assessed using youth self-reports. Logistic regression analyses estimated associations between socioemotional problems and early initiation; predicted probabilities and group differences were calculated using various regression techniques.

RESULTS: Twenty-six percent of youth had had intercourse before turning 15, and their average level of each problem was higher than the level of those who had not. Both internalizing problems (e.g., depression and dependency) and externalizing problems (e.g., hyperactivity and antisocial behavior) were associated with early sexual initiation (odds ratios, 1.1 and 1.2, respectively), but only externalizing problems retained significance when both types were included in the model (1.2). Among specific problems, only hyperactivity and antisocial behavior were associated with early initiation (1.2 for each). Youth with a high level of externalizing problems had a higher predicted probability of having early sex than did those with a low level (0.28 vs. 0.21). Associations between socioemotional problems and early initiation did not differ by gender or by race or ethnicity.

CONCLUSIONS: Interventions should be targeted at youth with externalizing problems, especially those who engage in antisocial or hyperactive behavior, in an effort to promote positive social interactions.

Copyright © 2010 by the Guttmacher Institute

RESULTS: Overall, no relationship was found between students' first sexual intercourse and GPA. For black females and Latinos of either gender, having had first sexual intercourse was associated with a lower GPA (coefficients, -216 and -161, respectively, corresponding to grade point decreases multiplied by 100). For black females, this association was observed only in the context of romantic relationships (-243). The predicted GPAs for black females aged 14 or 15 who reported first intercourse in a romantic relationship were significantly lower than those for their counterparts who had not had intercourse, whereas at 18 this was reversed. For Latinos, the predicted GPAs of 14‐ and 15‐year‐olds who had had sex were also lower than those of their sexually inexperienced counterparts.