Early and risky sexual behavior in a sample of rural adolescents

Introduction: Early and risky sexual behavior has been studied primarily in urban adolescents. Method: The purpose of this analysis was to identify psychosocial variables associated with sexual-risk behaviors in a sample of mostly rural adolescents. Six hypotheses were tested, using a resilience framework and data from an ongoing longitudinal study of 255 adolescents. Results: Sexual-risk status did not differ statistically by gender (p = .654) or socioeconomic status (p = .590). However, adolescents who engaged in sexual-risk behaviors reported significantly lower religiosity (p < .003), lower parental monitoring (p = .002), lower social connectedness (p = .007), and higher levels of peer influence (p < .001) than those engaged in no sexual-risk behaviors. Adolescents engaged in sexual-risk behaviors were also engaged in significantly more other health-risk behaviors such as smoking and drinking (p < .001). Discussion: Findings may be useful for developing interventions that focus on the social influences of peers and parents on rural youth.