Early Sexual Behavior in a Sample of Low-Income, African American Children

Abstract

This study describes the sexual behavior of 2- to 12-year-old African American children without known histories of sexual abuse and explores the relation of this behavior to gender and age. Primary caregivers were recruited from a public “Well Child” clinic and administered the Child Sexual Behavior Inventory (CSBI), a parental report measure that assesses a broad range of childhood sexual behaviors within 9 specific domains. CSBI data were collected on 249 African American children. Results indicate that African American children display a broad range of sexual behavior that was not reported to frequently occur. Sexual behaviors that involved requesting, planning, or forcing other children and adults into sexual activity were not reported. Although significant differences were not found between frequency levels of sexual behavior reported for boys and girls, the range of sexual behavior observed and reported for girls was narrower in comparison to boys. Significant differences were found between frequency levels of sexual behavior observed and reported for children of different ages. Analysis of the behavioral differences found between children of different ages indicates the emergence of a marked interest in sexuality as African American children approached puberty.

This research was assisted by a fellowship from the Sexuality Research Fellowship Program of the Social Science Research Council, with funds provided by the Ford Foundation. I thank D. G., Dennis J. Fortenberry, Donald Orr, Mary Ott, Jeanne Marsh, Edward Laumann, Marlon Bailey, and Anthony Carpenter for helpful comments on earlier versions of this manuscript.

Notes

¹The third version of the Child Sexual Behavior Inventory contains 38 items. Three items reflecting sexually intrusive behavior were added in consultation with the instrument's author.

^†Not observed at this frequency level.

^a The results of the Mann–Whitney U test revealed no significant differences in the overall level of sexual behavior observed for boys and girls. ^b n = 132. ^c n = 117.

Note. CSBI = Child Sexual Behavior Inventory.

^a n = 132. Likelihood ratio chi-square fit = 86.769 with 29 parameters and 481 df, p < .05. ^b n = 117. Likelihood ratio chi-square fit = 71.393 with 29 parameters and 482 df, p < .05.

Note. L² = likelihood ratio chi-square; LRT = likelihood ratio test; BIC = Bayesian information criterion; AIC = Akaike information criterion.

^a The results of the Kruskal–Wallis test revealed significant differences in the overall level of sexual behavior observed for 2- to 5-, 6- to 9-, and 10- to 12-year-old children, (X ² = 5.83, p = .05). ^b n = 129. n = 72. ^d n = 48. ^†Not observed for this age group.

Note. CSBI = Child Sexual Behavior Inventory.

^a n = 129. Likelihood ratio chi-square fit = 98.280 with 29 parameters and 482 df, p < .05. ^b n = 72. Likelihood ratio chi-square fit = 31.798 with 29 parameters and 482 df, p < .05. ^c n = 48. Likelihood ratio chi-square fit = 29.334 with 29 parameters and 482 df, p < .05.