Early adolescent sexual debut: The mediating role of working memory ability, sensation seeking, and impulsivity.

Abstract

Although deficits in working memory ability have been implicated in suboptimal decision making and risk taking among adolescents, its influence on early sexual initiation has so far not been examined. Analyzing 2 waves of panel data from a community sample of adolescents (N = 347; Mean age [baseline] = 13.4 years), assessed 1 year apart, the present study tested the hypothesis that weak working memory ability predicts early sexual initiation and explored whether this relationship is mediated by sensation seeking and 2 forms of impulsivity, namely acting-withoutthinking and temporal discounting. The 2 forms of impulsivity were expected to be positively associated with early sexual initiation, whereas sensation seeking was hypothesized to be unrelated or to have a protective influence, due to its positive association with working memory. Results obtained from structural equation modeling procedures supported these predictions and in addition showed that the effects of 3 prominent risk factors (Black racial identity, low socioeconomic background, and early pubertal maturation) on early sexual initiation were entirely mediated by working memory and impulsivity. The findings are discussed in regard to their implications for preventing early sexual onset among adolescents. Keywordsearly sexual debut; working memory; impulsivity; sensation seeking; delay discounting Adolescence has long been recognized as a period of heightened vulnerability to adverse health outcomes. Relative to both children and adults, adolescent rates of morbidity and mortality are disturbingly high and are linked to suboptimal decisions to engage in healthcompromising behaviors (Arnett, 1992;Dahl, 2004). Contrary to the popular notion that teenagers make light of the risks associated with their behaviors, research finds that adolescents are not only sensitive to the risks but also tend to overestimate them (Reyna & Farley, 2006). Nevertheless, whether all adolescents use these risk appraisals in an adaptive manner when making decisions regarding health-compromising behaviors, such as early sexual initiation, remains open to question.Adolescence is the developmental period when romantic and sexual exploration begins (Craver, Joyner, & Udry, 2003;B. C. Miller & Benson, 1999), with the initiation of vaginal intercourse becoming common during mid-to late adolescence (ages 16-19) Mosher, 2006). Although sexual activity among adolescents is often unprotected, sexual initiation at younger ages is found to be associated with greater involvement in risky sexual behaviors, including inconsistent condom use (Manlove, Ryan, & Franzetta, 2007;Manning, Longmore, & Giordano, 2000) and involvement with multiple sexual partners (O'Donnell, O'Donnell, & Stueve, 2001) that can increase the risk of unintended pregnancies and sexually transmitted infections (Cates, Herndon, Schulz, & Darroch, 2004;Coker et al., 1994;Greenberg, Magder, & Aral, 1992). The high individual and social costs associated with early sexual initiation are nevertheless largely preve...

Conceptualizing Time Preference: A Life-History Analysis

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Perceptions of Elementary School Children's Parents Regarding Sexuality Education

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Role of Working Memory Updating and Working Memory Capacity in Moderating the Relationship between Impulsivity with Propensity of Risk Taking Behaviors and Decision Making in Boy Adolescents

“…Thus these two forms of impulsivity predict independently some of risky behaviors. Investigations indicate that act without thinking associates to risky tendencies to sexual intercourse (Khurana et al, 2012). Yet reduced discounting delay paves the way for a large range of undesirable behaviors.…”