Abstract
This study examined the association of religiosity, sexual education and family structure with risky sexual behaviors among adolescents and young adults. The nationally representative sample, from the 2002 National Survey of Family Growth, included 3,168 women and men ages 15–21 years. Those who viewed religion as very important, had frequent church attendance, and held religious sexual attitudes were 27–54% less likely to have had sex and had significantly fewer sex partners than peers. Participants whose formal and parental sexual education included abstinence and those from two-parent families were 15% less likely to have had sex and had fewer partners.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Aspy, C., Vesely, S., Oman, R., Rodine, S., Marshall, L., & McLeroy, K. (2007). Parental communication and youth sexual behavior. Journal of Adolescence, 30, 449–466. doi:10.1016/j.adolescence.2006.04.007.
Benson, M., & Torpy, E. (1995). Sexual behavior in junior high school students. Obstetrics and Gynecology, 85, 279–284. doi:10.1016/0029-7844(94)00363-I.
Blum, R., Beuhring, T., Shew, M., Bearinger, L., Sieving, R., & Resnick, M. (2000). The effects of race/ethnicity, income, and family structure on adolescent risk behaviors. American Journal of Public Health, 90, 1879–1884.
Cabezon, C., Vigil, P., Rojas, I., Leiva, M., Riquelme, R., Aranda, W., et al. (2005). Adolescent pregnancy prevention: An abstinence-centered randomized controlled intervention in a Chilean public high school. The Journal of Adolescent Health, 36, 64–69. doi:10.1016/j.jadohealth.2003.10.011.
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2008). Youth risk behavior surveillance—United States, 2007. MMWR, 57(No. SS-4).
D’Antonio, W., Hoge, D., Gautier, M., & Davidson, J. (2007). American catholics today: New realities of their faith and their church. Lenham, MD: Roman and Littlefield.
DiCenso, A., Guyatt, G., Willan, A., & Griffith, L. (2002). Interventions to reduce unintended pregnancies among adolescents; systematic review of randomized controlled trials. British Medical Journal, 324, 1426–1430. doi:10.1136/bmj.324.7351.1426.
Dilorio, C., Kelley, M., & Hockenberry-Eaton, M. (1999). Communication about sexual issues: Mothers, fathers, and friends. The Journal of Adolescent Health, 24, 181–189. doi:10.1016/S1054-139X(98)00115-3.
Eaton, D., Kann, L., Kinchen, S., Ross, J., Hawkins, J., Harris, W., et al. (2006). Youth risk behavior surveillance—United States, 2005. MMWR, 55(No. SS-5).
Edwards, L., Fehring, R., Jarrett, K., & Haglund, K. (2008). The influence of religiosity, gender, & language preference acculturation on sexual activity among Latino/a adolescents. Hispanic Journal of Behavioral Sciences, 30, 447–462. doi:10.1177/0739986308322912.
Eggleston, E., Leitch, J., & Jackson, J. (2000). Consistency of self-reports of sexual activity among young adolescents in Jamaica. International Family Planning Perspectives, 7, 102–112.
Fehring, R., Cheever, K., German, K., & Philpot, C. (1998). Religiosity and sexual activity among older adolescents. Journal of Religion and Health, 37, 229–247. doi:10.1023/A:1022985922445.
Haglund, K. (2008). Reducing sexual risks with practice of periodic abstinence. JOGNN. Journal of Obstetric, Gynecologic, and Neonatal Nursing, 37, 647–656. doi:10.1111/j.1552-6909.2008.00289.x.
Holder, D., Durant, R., Harris, T., Daniel, J., Obeidallah, D., & Goodman, E. (2000). The association between adolescent spirituality and voluntary sexual activity. The Journal of Adolescent Health, 26, 295–302. doi:10.1016/S1054-139X(99)00092-0.
Jaccard, J., Dittus, P., & Gordon, V. (1996). Maternal correlates of adolescent sexual and contraceptive behavior. Family Planning Perspectives, 28, 159–165. doi:10.2307/2136192. (185).
Jessor, R., Turbin, M., Costa, F., Dong, Q., Zhang, H., & Wang, C. (2003). Adolescent problem behavior in China and the United States: A cross-national study of psychosocial protective factors. Journal of Research on Adolescence, 13, 329–360.
Kaplan, E., & Meier, P. (1958). Nonparametric estimation from incomplete observations. Journal of the American Statistical Association, 53, 457–485. doi:10.2307/2281868.
Kinsman, S., Romer, D., Furstenberg, F., & Schwarz, D. (1998). Early sexual initiation: The role of peer norms. Pediatrics, 102, 1185–1192. doi:10.1542/peds.102.5.1185.
Kirby, D. (2002). Antecedents of adolescent initiation of sex, contraceptive use and pregnancy. American Journal of Health Behavior, 26, 473–485.
Kirby, D., Laris, B., & Rolleri, L. (2007). Sex and HIV education programs: Their impact on sexual behaviors of young people throughout the world. The Journal of Adolescent Health, 40, 206–217. doi:10.1016/j.jadohealth.2006.11.143.
Kohler, P., Manhart, L., & Lafferty, W. (2008). Abstinence-only and comprehensive sex education and the initiation of sexual activity and teen pregnancy. The Journal of Adolescent Health, 42, 344–351. doi:10.1016/j.jadohealth.2007.08.026.
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. The Journal of Adolescent Health, 26, 42–48. doi:10.1016/S1054-139X(99)00041-5.
Lefkowitz, E., Gillen, M., Shearer, C., & Boone, T. (2004). Religiosity, sexual behavior, and sexual attitudes during emerging adulthood. Journal of Sex Research, 41, 150–159.
Manlove, J., Logan, C., Moore, K., & Ikramullah, E. (2008). Pathways from family religiosity to adolescent sexual activity and contraceptive use. Perspectives on Sexual and Reproductive Health, 40, 105–117. doi:10.1363/4010508.
McCree, D., Wingood, G., DiClemente, R., Davies, S., & Harrington, K. (2003). Religiosity and risky sexual behavior in African–American adolescent females. The Journal of Adolescent Health, 33, 2–8. doi:10.1016/S1054-139X(02)00460-3.
Menacker, F., Martin, J., MacDorman, M., & Ventura, S. (2004). Births to 10–14-year-old mothers, 1990–2002: Trends and health outcomes. National Vital Statistics Reports, 53, 1–20.
Miller, K., Sabo, D., Farrell, M., Barnes, G., & Melnick, M. (1998). Athletic participation and sexual behavior in adolescents: The different worlds of boys and girls. Journal of Health and Social Behavior, 39, 108–123.
Mott, F., Fondell, M., Hu, P., Kowaleski-Jones, L., & Menaghan, E. (1996). The determinants of first sex by age 14 in a high-risk adolescent population. Family Planning Perspectives, 28, 13–18.
NCHS. (2007). National survey of family growth. Retrieved October 1, 2008 from http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/nsfg.htm.
Nonnemaker, J., McNeely, C., & Blum, R. (2003). Public and private domains of religiosity and adolescent health risk behaviors: Evidence from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health. Social Science & Medicine, 57, 2049–2054.
Prothero, S. (2007). Worshipping in ignorance. The Chronicle Review, March 16: B6–B7.
Raine, T., Jenkins, R., Aarons, S., Woodward, K., Fairfax, J., El-Khorazaty, M., et al. (1999). Sociodemographic correlates of virginity in seventh-grade black and Latino students. Journal of Adolescent Health, 24, 304–312.
Romer, D., Stanton, B., Galbraith, J., Feigelman, S., Black, M., & Li, X. (1999). Parental influence on adolescent sexual behavior in high-poverty settings. Archives of Pediatric and Adolescent Medicine, 153, 1055–1062.
Rostosky, S., Regnerus, M., & Wright, M. (2003). Coital debut: The role of religiosity and sex attitudes in the add health survey. The Journal of Sex Research, 40, 358–367.
Rostosky, S., Wilcox, B., Wright, M., & Randall, B. (2004). The impact of religiosity on adolescent sexual behavior: A review of the evidence. Journal of Adolescent Research, 19, 677–697.
Sheeran, P., Abrams, D., Abraham, C., & Spears, R. (1993). Religiosity and adolescents’ premarital sexual attitudes and behavior: An empirical study of conceptual issues. European Journal of Social Psychology, 23, 39–52.
Thornton, A., & Camburn, D. (1989). Religious participation and adolescent sexual behavior and attitudes. Journal of Marriage and the Family, 51, 641–653.
Turbin, M., Jessor, R., Costa, F., Dong, Q., Zhang, H., & Wang, C. (2006). Protective and risk factors in health-enhancing behavior among adolescents in China and the United States: Does social context matter? Health Psychology, 25, 445–454.
Ventura, S., Abma, J., Mosher, W., & Henshaw, S. (2007). Recent trends in teenage pregnancy in the United States, 1990–2002. Retrieved October 1, 2008 from http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/products/pubs/pubd/hestats/teenpreg1990-2002/teenpreg1990-2002.htm.
Villarruel, A., Jemmott, J., & Jemmott, L. (2007). A randomized controlled trial testing an HIV prevention intervention for Latino youth. Archives of Pediatric and Adolescent Medicine, 160, 772–777.
Weinstein, M., & Thornton, A. (1989). Mother-child relations and adolescent sexual attitudes and behavior. Demography, 26, 563–577.
Weinstock, H., Berman, S., & Cates, W. (2004). Sexually transmitted diseases among American youth: Incidence and prevalence estimates, 2000. Perspectives on Sexual and Reproductive Health, 36, 6–10.
Young, M., & Penhollow, T. (2006). The impact of abstinence education: What does the research say? American Journal of Health Education, 37, 194–202.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Haglund, K.A., Fehring, R.J. The Association of Religiosity, Sexual Education, and Parental Factors with Risky Sexual Behaviors Among Adolescents and Young Adults. J Relig Health 49, 460–472 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10943-009-9267-5
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10943-009-9267-5