Effects of ethnicity and neighborhood quality often are confounded in research on adolescent delinquent behavior. This study examined the pathways to delinquency among 2,277 African American and 5,973 European American youth residing in high-risk and low-risk neighborhoods. Using data from a national study of youth, a meditational model was tested in which parenting practices (parental control and maternal support) were hypothesized to influence adolescents' participation in delinquent behavior through their affiliation with deviant peers. The relationships of family and neighborhood risk to parenting practices and deviant peer affiliation were also examined. Results of multi-group structural equation models provided support for the core meditational model in both ethnic groups, as well as evidence of a direct effect of maternal support on delinquency. When a similar model was tested within each ethnic group to compare youths residing in high-risk and low-risk neighborhoods, few neighborhood differences were found. The results indicate that, for both African American and European American youth, low parental control influences delinquency indirectly through its effect on deviant peer affiliation, whereas maternal support has both direct and indirect effects. However, the contextual factors influencing parenting practices and deviant peer affiliation appear to vary somewhat across ethnic groups. Overall the present study highlights the need to look at the joint influence of neighborhood context and ethnicity on adolescent problem behavior.

Latino adolescents engage in riskier sexual behaviors compared to their peers, shown by their higher rates of sexually transmitted infections and lower rates of condom usage; therefore, examining the precursors and correlates of these risky sexual behaviors is important for prevention-intervention program development. Based on cultural-ecological, symbolic interaction, and gender socialization perspectives, we examined associations among mothers' and fathers' parenting and Latino youth's sexual risk over a 5 year period. Further, we investigated the direct and moderating roles of acculturation (e.g., language spoken in the home), nativity (e.g., citizenship status), and adolescents' gender. Using data from the National Longitudinal Study of Youth (N = 1,899 Latino youth; 49 % female), we conducted a multi-level path model controlling for adolescents' age and prior sexual experience. Our findings revealed that more strictness by mothers and less strictness by fathers at Time 1 were related to lower sexual risk for adolescents at Time 2. Additionally, more monitoring by fathers at Time 2 was associated with lower sexual risk for adolescents at Time 3. Significant gender differences were found such that there were stronger associations among parenting processes and sexual risk for girls than for boys. Finally, we found support for the immigrant paradox (foreign-born youth reported lower sexual risk than US-born youth) and greater gender differences (boys had riskier sexual behaviors than girls) for immigrant compared to US-born youth. The findings reveal the complex associations among parenting processes, nativity status, gender, and sexual risk for Latino adolescents.

One theoretical concept receiving modest attention in contemporary sex research is the sexual self-concept (SSC). However, a lack of cohesion within this research has culminated in a collection of SSC models which overlap one another but which are not exactly the same. Therefore, a unified conceptual model of SSC needs to be established. In addition, little research has examined potential differences between genders in SSC, as most SSC research has focused on women. Using Buzwell and Rosenthal's 1996 sexual selves model as a theoretical basis, a six-factor higher-order latent SSC model was tested using confirmatory factor analysis. Lower-order factors for this model included multidimensional sexual self-esteem and sexual self-efficacy factors, as well as unidimensional arousal, anxiety, exploration, and commitment factors. A five-factor latent model (after removing the commitment and the resistance sexual self-efficacy factors) was the best-fitting model. This model was then tested for measurement and structural invariance between genders. Results indicated that while the measurement of SSC was similar between men and women, structural invariance did not hold, as men had a significantly higher latent SSC score compared to women. These findings have important implications for sexual self-concept research, as well as contributing to better understanding of human sexuality.

There is little research on how specific parent-adolescent sexual communication topics influence Latino/a youth’s sexual behaviors, and how gender and generational status may moderate effects. This study examined effects of three different messages on intercourse and condom use among 1944 Latino/as from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health (T1 mean age=15.46; sd=1.50). Results indicated discussing health consequences predicted higher odds of intercourse one year later across gender and generation groups. Birth control recommendation effects on subsequent intercourse and condom use differed by generational status and gender. Results indicated that message content is important for understanding effects of parent-adolescent sex communication on adolescents’ behavior, and underscored the need to consider gender and generational status in Latino/a parent-adolescent sexual communication studies.

Background There is considerable variation in alcohol use and problems across the United States, suggesting that systematic regional differences might contribute to alcohol involvement. Several neighborhood contextual factors may be important aspects of this “alcohol environment.” Methods Participants were 15,197 young adults (age 18–26) from Wave III of the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent to Adult Health, a nationally-representative United States survey. Measures of past-year alcohol use and problems were obtained via structured in-home interviews. Tract-level neighborhood contextual factors (density of on- and off-premises alcohol outlets, neighborhood disadvantage, rural versus urban residence) were derived from census indicators and geocoded state-level alcohol outlet licenses. Multivariate logistic regression, ordered logistic regression, or negative binomial regression models, including age, sex, race, and household income as covariates, were fit to examine the relation of the neighborhood contextual factors with alcohol use and problems. Results The most consistent finding across four of the five measures of alcohol involvement was their association with neighborhood advantage; the active ingredient underlying this effect was primarily the proportion of educated residents in the neighborhood. The densities of alcohol outlets were associated with any alcohol use – they were not associated with binge drinking or alcohol problems, nor could they explain any of the neighborhood advantage effects. The influence of alcohol outlet densities on alcohol involvement did not differ for those above or below the legal age to purchase alcohol. Living in a rural versus an urban neighborhood was associated with a different alcohol use pattern characterized by a lower likelihood of any drinking, but among those who drank, consuming more alcohol per occasion. Conclusions Living in a more advantaged and educated urban neighborhood with greater densities of bars and restaurants is associated with greater alcohol involvement among 18–26-year-olds in the United States.

Background and aim The course of disordered gambling in women has been described as “telescoped” compared with that in men, with a later age at initiation of gambling but shorter times from initiation to disorder. This study examined the evidence, for the first time, for such a telescoping effect in a general population rather than a treatment-seeking sample. Method Participants in a large community-based Australian twin cohort (2,001 men, 2,662 women) were assessed by structured diagnostic telephone interviews in which they reported the ages at which they had attained various gambling milestones and additional information to be used as covariates (the types of gambling in which they had participated and history of symptoms of alcohol dependence, major depression, and adult antisocial behavior). Cox proportional hazards regression models were used to examine differences between men and women in the time from gambling initiation to the first disordered gambling symptom and a diagnosis of disordered gambling. Results Men had a higher hazards than women for the time to the first disordered gambling symptom (HR = 3.13, p < .0001) and to a diagnosis of disordered gambling (HR = 2.53, p < .0001). These differences persisted after controlling for covariates. Earlier age of initiation was the most potent predictor of progression to the first symptom. Conclusions When assessed at the general population level, female gamblers do not appear to show a telescoped disordered gambling trajectory compared with male gamblers.

Although socializing effects of friends’ drinking on adolescent drinking behavior have been firmly established in previous literature, study results on the importance of gender, as well as the specific role that gender may play in peer socialization, are very mixed. Given the increasing importance of gender in friendships (particularly opposite-sex friendships) during adolescence, it is necessary to better understand the nuanced roles that gender can play in peer socialization effects on alcohol use. In addition, previous studies focusing on the interplay between individual gender and friends’ gender have been largely dyadic; less is known about potential gendered effects of broader social networks. The current study sought to further investigate potential effects of gender on friends’ influence on adolescent drinking behavior with particular emphasis on the number of same-sex and opposite-sex friends within one’s friendship network, as well as closeness to these friends. Using Waves I and II of the saturated sample of the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health (Add Health), adolescent friendship networks were used to calculate the mean drinking behaviors of adolescent friends. Multi-level models estimated the effects of individual drinking behaviors, friend drinking behaviors, and school-level drinking behaviors on adolescent drinking 1 year later, as well as moderating effects of gender composition of friendship groups and male and female friend closeness on the relationship between friends’ drinking behaviors and adolescent drinking behavior. Results documented that gender composition of friendship groups did not influence the effect of friends’ drinking on individual drinking 1 year later. However, closeness to friends did influence this relationship. As closeness to male friends decreased, the influence of their drinking behavior increased, for both boys and girls. A similar effect was found for female friends, but only for boys. Female friend closeness did not affect the relationship between peer alcohol socialization and girls’ alcohol use. The findings indicate that the role of gender on alcohol socialization may be more complex than previously thought, particularly when examining the potential role that alcohol use may play as a mechanism for social bonding within opposite-sex friendships and same-sex male friendships.

Previous research has demonstrated that local area characteristics (such as disadvantage and gambling outlet density) and genetic risk factors are associated with gambling involvement and disordered gambling. These two lines of research were brought together in the present study by examining the extent to which genetic contributions to individual differences in gambling involvement and disorder contributed to being exposed to, and were also accentuated by, local area disadvantage. Participants were members of the national community-based Australian Twin Registry who completed a telephone interview in which the past-year frequency of gambling and symptoms of disordered gambling were assessed. Indicators of local area disadvantage were based on census data matched to the participants' postal codes. Univariate biometric model-fitting revealed that exposure to area disadvantage was partially explained by genetic factors. Bivariate biometric model-fitting was conducted to examine the evidence for gene-environment interaction while accounting for gene-environment correlation. These analyses demonstrated that: (a) a small portion of the genetic propensity to gamble was explained by moving to or remaining in a disadvantaged area, and (b) the remaining genetic and unique environmental variation in the frequency of participating in electronic machine gambling (among men and women) and symptoms of disordered gambling (among women) was greater in more disadvantaged localities. As the gambling industry continues to grow, it will be important to take into account the multiple contexts in which problematic gambling behavior can emerge -- from genes to geography -- as well as the ways in which such contexts may interact with each other.