Psychology, Department of
Date of this Version
6-1-1996
Abstract
This study examined the association between psychosocial development and the timing of first sexual intercourse in a sample of White, rural adolescents. Two theoretical models were tested. The first model, derived from problem behavior theory, proposed that earlier timing of first sexual intercourse is associated with longitudinal patterns of transition proneness and poor psychosocial adjustment. The second model, the stage termination model, proposed that early first sexual intercourse interferes with subsequent development, thereby resulting in negative developmental outcomes. problem behavior theory was supported. For both boys and girls, earlier timing of first sexual intercourse was associated with longitudinal patterns of greater transition proneness and poorer psychosocial adjustment. The stage termination model was not supported. No evidence was found suggesting that early timing of first sexual intercourse results in negative psychosocial outcomes.
Comments
Published in Developmental Psychology 32:4 (1996), pp. 647–658. Copyright © 1996 by the American Psychological Association, Inc. Used by permission. “This article may not exactly replicate the final version published in the APA journal. It is not the copy of record.” http://www.apa.org/journals/dev/