Influence of Peers on Young Adolescent Females' Romantic Decisions

Young Men’s Social Network Characteristics and Associations with Sexual Partnership Concurrency in Tanzania

“…We also found that younger men in the camps who had older, rather than younger, friends in their networks were more likely to engage in concurrency. This finding is consistent with other studies showing that adolescents with older friendship networks are more likely to engage in sexual risk behaviors [7, 36]. Several studies from Tanzania have shown that young men engage in concurrency to prove their success with women to their peers and contribute to the norm that young men need multiple partners to satisfy their sexual needs [23, 54].…”

“…Younger adolescents are also more likely to model the behavior of their older peers. Studies among U.S. adolescents showed that adolescents with older friendship networks, compared to younger, were more likely to engage in sexual risk behaviors, such as early sexual debut [7, 36]. In previous work with young men in Dar es Salaam, the prevalence of concurrency steadily increased with age from 19, 28, 38, and 44 % for 16, 17, 18, and 19 year olds respectively, suggesting that concurrency was more common at older ages [24].…”

Identifying peer effects using spatial analysis: the role of peers on risky sexual behavior

“…The spatial parameters for casual sex and unprotected sex are both significant at the 5 % level, while the spatial parameter for multiple partners is insignificant. Recent work has shown that looking at peer influence as occurring through social norms can explain the significant effects (Coley et al 2013; Wisnieski et al 2013). The following tables provide the results of the marginal effects of peer influences.…”

Father absence and early sexual debut: Understanding the influence of gender, risk, and protective factors

“…In the United States, nearly one third (29.3%) of ninth graders have reported that they have had sexual intercourse. In early adolescence (aged 11-14 years), abstract thinking is poorly developed, limiting the ability of youth to consider long term consequences of behavior (Wisnieski, Sieving & Garwick, 2013). Research has shown that adolescents are not only sensitive to the risks but also tend to underestimate them (Reyna & Farley, 2006).…”

“…These increased risks may be attributed to adolescents' lack of cognitive maturity and poor decision-making skills, which therefore may make them less likely to use contraception (Centers for Disease Control, 1992); thus, it is very important to understand the risk and protective factors associated with early sexual debut (Brooks-Gunn & Paikoff, 1997). The decision made by an adolescent to engage in sexual intercourse for the first time is an important transition and, if experienced too early, may lead to other risky sexual behaviors, such as teen pregnancy, sexual transmitted infection, and HIV (Babalola, 2004; Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2010; Klavs, Rodrigues, Weiss, & Hayes, 2006;Wisnieski et al, 2013). It also places the youth at increased risk of lower levels of academic achievement and increased levels of substance use (Schvaneveldt, Miller, Berry, & Lee, 2001;Whitbeck, Yoder, Hoyt, & Conger, 1999).…”