Young women’s sexual involvement in emerging adulthood

ABSTRACT

Using data from the Relationship Dynamics and Social Life Study, this study examined the association of peer, family, attitudinal, aspirational, and attainment factors relevant to 820 young women’s (aged 18–19) number of sexual partners. Overall, this study found that perceived peer norms and early onset of sexual initiation had a positive and statistically significant association with the respondents’ number of lifetime sexual partners. While high school performance and college aspirations were inversely associated with the number of lifetime partners, their current level of educational attainment was not. Finally, racial disparities in the accrual of partners were contingent upon the respondents’ attitude to premarital abstinence and educationally related factors. Understanding risk and protective factors may help public health policy planners and health care professionals formulate a more effective ecologically based approach to mitigate sexual health risks and social repercussion related to dating for young women.

KEYWORDS:

• Education
• emerging adults
• family
• peers
• sexual attitudes
• sexual partners

Funding

This study effort was supported by the UTEP BUILDing SCHOLARS NIH Award #1RL5MD009592.

Notes

^1. The dataset for this study is available for downloading from the data-sharing website of the Inter-university Consortium for Political and Social Research (ICPSR).

^2. Name of the county was not released to protect the anonymity of the respondents.

Additional information

Funding

This study effort was supported by the UTEP BUILDing SCHOLARS NIH Award #1RL5MD009592