Acculturation-related variables, sexual initiation, and subsequent sexual behavior among Puerto Rican, Mexican, and Cuban youth

Vincent Guilamo-Ramos, James Jaccard, Juan Pena, Vincent Goldberg

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

Abstract

The relationship among acculturation-related variables, past sexual activity, and subsequent sexual behavior was examined for a sample of Latino youth in the United States over a 12-month period. A subsample from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health database was analyzed by means of a prospective design. History of sexual intercourse predicted subsequent sexual behavior over the ensuing 12 months. The acculturation-related variables were related to whether an adolescent reported being sexually active at Wave 1 but in a complex fashion. Among recent immigrants, youth from English-speaking homes were less likely to be sexually active than those from Spanish-speaking homes. The opposite was observed for youth who were born in the United States or who had resided in the United States most of their lives.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)88-95
Number of pages8
JournalHealth Psychology
Volume24
Issue number1
DOIs
StatePublished - Jan 2005

Keywords

  • Acculturation
  • HIV risk behavior
  • Latino youth
  • Sexual behavior

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Applied Psychology
  • Psychiatry and Mental health

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