Skip to main content

Advertisement

SpringerLink
Log in

Genetic and Environmental Influences on Age at Sexual Initiation in the Colorado Adoption Project

  • Original paper
  • Published:
Behavior Genetics Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Whereas the majority of research on adolescent sexual initiation has focused solely on environmental factors, the present study used behavioral genetic analyses to investigate the relative contributions of genetic and environmental influences. Structural equation models were fitted to data from adoptive and non-adoptive sibling pairs (231 biologically related pairs and 169 unrelated pairs) from the Colorado Adoption Project. Information from censored individuals who had not yet experienced sexual initiation was maximized by adapting the twin survival analysis method of Pickles et al. (Behav Genet 24(5):457–468, 1994) to accommodate adoptive and non-adoptive siblings. Point estimates of variance components from an ACE model, including additive genetic (A), shared environmental (C), and non-shared environmental (E) influences were 28%, 24%, and 48%, respectively. Despite the lower point estimate for shared environmental effects than additive genetic effects, a CE model provided the best fit to the data. However, because adoptive siblings provide a direct estimate of shared environmental influences there is greater power to detect shared environmental effects in adoption designs. Evidence for genetic influences from our data were somewhat lower than those obtained in previous twin studies, possibly reflecting a return to more socially conservative sexual attitudes, changing sexual behaviors, or ambiguities in the wording of questions commonly used in research on adolescent sexuality.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Abma JC, Sonenstein FL (2001) Sexual activity and contraceptive practices among teenagers in the United States, 1988 and 1995. Vital Health Statistics 23(21). National Center for Health Statistics, Hyattesville, MD

  • The Allen Guttmacher Institute (2001) Can more progress be made? Teenage sexual and reproductive behavior in developed countries. Occasional Report No. 3

  • Bachman JG, O’Malley PM (1981) When four months equal a year. Public Opin Quart 45:536–548

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Babalola S (2004) Perceived peer behavior and the timing of sexual debut in Rwanda: a survival analysis of youth data. J Youth Adolesc 33(4):353–363

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bearman PS, Bruckner H (2001) Promising the future: virginity pledges and first intercourse. Am J Sociol 106:859–912

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bersamin MM, Walker S, Waiters ED, Fisher DA, Grube JW (2005) Promising to wait: virginity pledges and adolescent sexual behavior. J Adolesc Health 36:428–436

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Blinn-Pike L (1999) Why abstinent adolescents report they have not had sex: understanding sexually resilient youth. Fam Relat 48:295–301

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Boekeloo BO, Howard DE (2002) Oral sexual experience among young adolescents receiving general health examinations. Am J Health Behav 26(4): 306–314

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Breakwell G (1996) Risk estimation and sexual behaviour: a longitudinal study of 16- to 21-year-olds. J Health Psychol 1(1):79–91

    Google Scholar 

  • Brodzinsky DM, Radice C, Huffman L, Merkler K (1987) Prevalence of clinically significant symptomatology in a nonclinical sample of adopted and nonadopted children. J Clin Child Psychol 16(4):350–356

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (1996) CDC surveillance summaries, September 27, 1996. MMWR 45(No. SS-4)

  • Chacko MR, Wiemann CM, Smith PB (2004) Chlamydia and gonorrhea screening in asymptomatic young women. J Pediatr Adolesc Gynecol 17(3):169–178

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Cohen J (1988) Statistical power analysis for the behavioral sciences, 2nd edn. Lawrence Earlbaum Associates, Hillsdale, NJ

    Google Scholar 

  • Day RD (1992) The transition to first intercourse among racially and culturally diverse youth. J Marriage Fam 54:749–762

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • DeFries JC, Plomin R, Fulker DW (1994) Nature and nurture during middle childhood. Blackwell Publishers, Cambridge, MA

    Google Scholar 

  • Dick DM, Rose RJ, Pulkkinen L, Kaprio J (2001) Measuring puberty and understanding its impact: a longitudinal study of adolescent twins. J Youth Adolesc 30(4):385–400

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dunne MP, Martin NG, Statham DJ, Slutske WS, Dinwiddie SH, Bucholz KK, Madden PAF, Heath AC (1997) Genetic and environmental contributions to variance in age at first sexual intercourse. Psychol Sci 8(3):211–216

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ebomoyi EW (1998) Campus courtship behavior and fear of human immunodeficiency virus infection by university students. J Natl Med Assoc 90(7):395–399

    PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Finley GE (1999) Children of adoptive families. In: Silverman WK, Ollendick TH (eds) Developmental issues in the clinical treatment of children. Allyn & Bacon, Boston, pp 358–370

    Google Scholar 

  • Flannery DJ, Rowe DC, Gulley BL (1993) Impact of pubertal status, timing, and age of adolescent sexual experience and delinquency. J Adolesc Res 8(1):21–40

    Google Scholar 

  • Halpern CT, Udry JR, Campbell B, Suchindran C (1993) Testosterone and pubertal development as predictors of sexual activity: a panel analysis of adolescent males. Psychosom Med 55:436–447

    PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Halpern CT, Udry JR, Campbell B, Suchindran C, Mason GA (1994) Testosterone and religiosity as predictors of sexual attitudes and activity among adolescent males: a biosocial model. J Biosoc Sci 26:217–234

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Halpern-Felsher BL, Cornell JL, Kropp RY, Tschann JM (2005) Oral versus vaginal sex among adolescents: perceptions, attitudes, and behavior. Pediatrics 115:845–851

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Harris JA, Vernon PA, Boomsma DI (1998) The heritability of testosterone: a study of Dutch adolescent twins and their parents. Behav Genet 28(3):165–171

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Janson CG (1990) Retrospective data, undesirable behavior and the longitudinal perspective. In: Magnusson D, Bergman LR (eds) Data quality and longitudinal research. CUP, Cambridge, pp 100–121

    Google Scholar 

  • Juffer F, Ijzendoorn MH (2005) Behavior problems and mental health referrals of international adoptees: a meta-analysis. J Am Med Assoc 293:2501–2515

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Kahn JA, Rosenthal SL, Succop PA, Ho GYF, Burk RD (2002) Mediators of the association between age of first sexual intercourse and subsequent human papillomavirus infection. Pediatrics 109(1): 132–133

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kraft P (1991) Age at first intercourse among Norwegian adolescents: a lifestyle perspective. Soc Sci Med 33(2):207–213

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Lammers C, Ireland M, Resnick M, Blum R (2000) Influences on adolescents’ decision to postpone onset of sexual intercourse: a survival analysis of virginity among youths aged 13 to 18 years. J Adolesc Health 26:42–48

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Longmore MA, Manning WD, Giordano PC, Rudolph JL (2004) Self-esteem, depressive symptoms, and adolescents’ sexual onset. Soc Psychol Quart 67(3):279–295

    Google Scholar 

  • Martin NG, Eaves LJ, Eysenck HJ (1976) Genetical, environmental, and personality factors influencing the age of first sexual intercourse in twins. J Biosoc Sci 9:91–97

    Google Scholar 

  • Miller BC, Benson B, Galbraith KA (2001) Family relationships and adolescent pregnancy risk: a research synthesis. Dev Rev 21:1–38

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Miller BC, Norton MC, Curtis T, Hill EJ, Schvaneveldt P, Young MH (1997) The timing of sexual intercourse among adolescents: family, peer, and other antecedents. Youth Soc 29(1):54–83

    Google Scholar 

  • Miller BC, Norton MC, Fan X, Christopherson CR (1998) Pubertal development, parental communication, and sexual values in relation to adolescent sexual behaviors. J Early Adolesc 18:27–52

    Google Scholar 

  • Miller BC, Fan X, Christensen M, Grotevant HD, van Dulmen M (2000) Comparison of adopted and nonadopted adolescents in a large, nationally representative sample. Child Dev 71(5):1458–1473

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Miller HG, Rodgers SM, Gribble JN, Turner CF (1995) Correlates of sexually transmitted bacterial infections among U.S. women in 1995. Fam Plan Perspect 31(1):4–9

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Miller WB, Pasta DJ, MacMurray J, Chiu C, Wu H, Comings DE (1999) Dopamine receptor genes are associated with age at first sexual intercourse. J Biosoc Sci 31:43–54

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Moore KA, Peterson JL, Furstenberg FF (1986) Parental attitudes and the occurrence of early sexual activity. J Marriage Fam 48(4):777–782

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mustanski BS, Viken RJ, Kaprio J, Pulkkinen L, Rose RJ (2004) Genetic and environmental influences on pubertal development: longitudinal data from Finnish twins at ages 11 and 14. Dev Psychol 40(6):1188–1198

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Neale MC, Boker SM, Xie G, Maes HH (1999) Mx statistical modeling, 5th edn. VCU Box 900126, Department of Psychiatry, Richmond, VA 23298

  • Petrill SA, Plomin R, DeFries JC, Hewitt JK (2003) Nature, nurture, and the transition to early adolescence. Oxford University Press, Oxford

    Google Scholar 

  • Pickles A, Neale M, Simonoff E, Rutter M, Hewitt J, Meyer J, Crouchley R, Silberg J, Eaves L (1994) A simple method for censored age-of-onset data subject to recall bias: mother’s report of age of puberty in male twins. Behav Genet 24(5):457–468

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Plomin R, DeFries JC (1985) Origins of individual differences in infancy: The Colorado Adoption Project. Academic Press, New York, pp 312–325

    Google Scholar 

  • Plomin R, DeFries JC, Fulker DW (1988) Nature and nurture during infancy and early childhood. Cambridge University Press, New York

    Google Scholar 

  • Ramrakha S, Caspi A, Dickson N, Moffit TE, Paul C (2000) Psychiatric disorders and risky sexual behaviour in young adulthood: cross-sectional study in birth cohort. Br Med J 321:263–266

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Reiss AJ, Duncan OD, Hatt PK, North CC (1961) Occupations and social status. Free Press, Glencoe, IL

    Google Scholar 

  • Rodgers JL, Rowe DC (1990) Adolescent sexual activity and mildly deviant behavior: sibling and friendship effects. J Fam Issues 11(3):274–293

    Google Scholar 

  • Rodgers JL, Rowe DC, Buster M (1999) Nature, nurture and first sexual intercourse in the USA: fitting behavioural genetic models to NLSY kinship data. J Biosoc Sci 31:29–41

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Sanders SA, Reinisch JM (1999) Would you say you “Had Sex” if...? J Am Med Assoc 281(3):275–277

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Schwartz IM (1999) Sexual activity prior to coital initiation: a comparison between males and females. Arch Sex Behav 28(1): 63–69

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Simmel C, Brooks D, Barth RP, Hinshaw S (2001) Externalizing symptomatology among adoptive youth: prevalence and preadoption risk factors. J Abnormal Child Psychol 29(1): 57–69

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Slonim-Nevo V (1992) First premarital intercourse among Mexican-American and Anglo-American adolescent women: interpreting ethnic differences. J Adolesc Res 7(3):332–351

    Google Scholar 

  • Sprecher S, Regan PC (1996) College virgins: how men and women perceive their sexual status. J Sex Res 33(10):3–15

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sudman S, Bradburn NM (1973) Effects of time and memory factors on response in surveys. J Am Stat Soc 68:344, Appl Sect. 805–815

    Google Scholar 

  • Udry JR, Bearman PS (1998) New methods for new research on adolescent sexual behavior. In: Jessor R (ed) New perspectives on adolescent risk behavior. Cambridge University Press, New York, pp 241–269

    Google Scholar 

  • Udry JR (1990) Biosocial models of adolescent problem behaviors. Soc Biol 37:1–10

    PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Udry JR (1988) Biological predispositions and social control in adolescent sexual behavior. Am Soc Rev 53:709–722

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Udry JR, Billy JOG (1987) Initiation of coitus in early adolescence. Am Sociol Rev 52:841–855

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Udry JR, Talbert LB, Morris NM (1986) Biosocial foundations for adolescent female sexuality. Demography 23(2):217–230

    PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Ventura SJ, Mathews TJ, Curtin SC (1998) Decline in teenage birth rates 1991–1999; Update of national and state trends. October 25, 1998; National Vital Statistics Reports. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, GA: No. 20

  • Whitbeck LB, Yoder KA, Hoyt DR, Conger RD (1999) Early adolescent sexual activity: a developmental study. J Marriage Fam 61:934–946

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • White H (1988) Risk taking as a predictor of adolescent sexual activity and use of contraception. J Adolesc Res 3(3–4):317–331

    PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Whitten KL (2002) The healthy development of adopted adolescents: the role of family, school and community. Diss Abs Int: Sect B: Sci Eng 63(3-B):1592

    Google Scholar 

  • Wierzbicki M (1993) Psychological adjustment of adoptees: A meta-analysis. J Clinic Child Psychol 22:447–454

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgments

This research is supported by grants HD010333, HD036773, DA011015, DA05131. We also greatly appreciate the many families who continue to participate and Jan L. Handke of the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environmental, Health Statistics and Vital Records Department, who compiled comparative vital statistics data.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute for Behavioral Genetics, University of Colorado, 447 UCB, Boulder, CO, 80309, USA

    J. B. Bricker, M. C. Stallings, R. P. Corley, S. J. Wadsworth, D. S. Timberlake, J. K. Hewitt, S. A. Rhea & J. C. DeFries

  2. Department of Psychology, University of Colorado, Boulder, CO, USA

    A. Bryan

  3. Social, Genetic and Developmental Psychiatry Research Centre, Institute of Psychiatry, London, England

    A. Caspi

  4. Department of Human Development and Family Studies, Pennsylvania State University, University Park, USA

    S. M. Hofer

Authors
  1. J. B. Bricker
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. M. C. Stallings
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. R. P. Corley
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. S. J. Wadsworth
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  5. A. Bryan
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  6. D. S. Timberlake
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  7. J. K. Hewitt
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  8. A. Caspi
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  9. S. M. Hofer
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  10. S. A. Rhea
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  11. J. C. DeFries
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to J. B. Bricker.

Additional information

Edited by Richard Rose

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Bricker, J.B., Stallings, M.C., Corley, R.P. et al. Genetic and Environmental Influences on Age at Sexual Initiation in the Colorado Adoption Project. Behav Genet 36, 820–832 (2006). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10519-006-9079-2

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10519-006-9079-2

Keywords

Search

Navigation