Direct and Indirect Effects of Maternal and Peer Influences on Sexual Intention among Urban African American and Hispanic Females

Abstract

Peer and family influences are interconnected in complex ways. These influences shape adolescent decision-making regarding engagement in sexual behaviors. Evidence indicates the more proximal (and direct) a process is to an individual, the more likely it is to affect his/her development and behavior. Therefore, family factors (e.g., parenting practices) and peer influence (e.g., peer norms) tend to be more strongly associated with adolescent behavior than distal factors (e.g., media or the economy). Guided by an ecological framework, this study explored how maternal influence variables interact with perceptions of peer influence to affect daughters' intentions to have sex. A nonprobability sample of 176 mother-daughter dyads was recruited in clinics and service organizations in the northeastern United States. Results from path analysis revealed that maternal influence variables had a significant indirect relationship with daughters' intentions to have sex through daughters' perceptions of peer influence. Maternal processes can act as protective factors for adolescent girls who perceive their peers are engaged in sexual behaviors. Therefore, risk reduction interventions with adolescents should include opportunities for parents to learn about sex-related issues and develop skills that will allow them to buffer negative peer influence.

“It All Starts With the Parents”: A Qualitative Study on Protective Factors for Drug-Use Prevention Among Black and Hispanic Girls

“…For black and Hispanic adolescent girls, the mother–daughter relationship typically aligns with behavioral outcomes (Barman-Adhikari, Cederbaum, Sathoff, & Toro, 2014; Hutchinson & Montgomery, 2007; Schinke et al, 2011). Lack of mother–daughter closeness has been shown in the literature to predict drug usage among adolescent girls (Schinke, Di Noia, Schwinn, & Cole, 2006).…”

Ecodevelopmental trajectories of family functioning: Links with HIV/STI risk behaviors and STI among Black adolescents.

“…For example, family functioning, including higher levels of family support and decreased conflict, have been shown to prevent and reduce sexual risk behaviors and STI in Black adolescents (Crosby, Wingood, DiClemente, & Rose, 2002; Murry, Simons, Simons, & Gibbons, 2013). Given that differences in parents’ child-rearing practices and gender role expectations may exist among Black families (Barman-Adhikari, Cederbaum, Sathoff, & Toro, 2014; Howard, Rose, & Barbarin, 2013), researchers have shown that the influence of family functioning on Black adolescent sexual risk behaviors varies as a function of gender (Kogan, Brody, Chen, Grange, Slater, & DiClemente, 2010; Steiner, Swartzendruber, Rose, & DiClemente, 2014). Higher levels of family functioning, including parent-adolescent communication, has been associated with a lower likelihood of unprotected sex for Black females but not males (Kogan et al, 2010).…”

Parent-Adolescent Sexual Communication and Adolescent Sexual Behavior: A Meta-Analysis Review

“…The study on parentadolescent sexual communication actually is the further development of the variable of parental influence or parent involvement. Numerous studies use communication as the indicator of parent involvement, as in the study conducted by Barman-Adhikari et al (2014). They measured parental influence based on several indicators, including parental monitoring, parentchild relationship satisfaction, and parent-teen sexual risk communication.…”