Risky sexual behavior among adolescents: The role of decision-making, problems from cannabis use and externalizing disorder symptoms

ABSTRACT

Introduction: Previous research has demonstrated that externalizing symptoms, cannabis use problems, and poor decision-making abilities are each independently related to risky sexual behavior (RSB). However, few studies have examined the joint effect of these factors on RSB among a sample of adolescents. Methods: The current study addresses this gap in the literature by examining how externalizing disorder symptoms, cannabis use, and decision-making abilities interact to predict RSB among a sample of adolescents (n = 204; M_age = 15.5) at-risk for escalation in cannabis use. Poisson regression was used for all analyses, and simple slope difference tests were used for all post-hoc analyses. Results: A greater number of externalizing symptoms, more problems from cannabis use, and more risk disadvantageous choices on the Cups Task (CT) total trials and more risk disadvantageous choices on the CT-gain trials predicted greater RSB endorsement. Findings also highlight significant interactions between cannabis use problems and CT-total and -gain trial performance, as well as between cannabis use problems and externalizing symptoms in predicting RSB.Conclusion: Current treatment and prevention approaches to reduce RSB among adolescents may benefit from incorporating techniques that improve decision-making skills.

KEYWORDS:

• Cannabis
• decision-making
• externalizing disorders
• risky sexual behavior

Acknowledgments

This work was supported by grants to Raul Gonzalez and to John Hewitt from the National Institute on Drug Abuse. The content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of the National Institutes of Health.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the National Institute on Drug Abuse [grant numbers R01 DA031176, R01 DA033156, and T32 DA017637].