No full-text available
To read the full-text of this research,
you can request a copy directly from the authors.
Behavioral Measures to Assess Adolescent Sexual Communication with Partners: A Scoping Review and Call for Further Studies
The Journal of Sex Research
Abstract
Sexual communication with partners is important for adolescents' sexual and socioemotional well-being. Behavioral assessments of partner sexual communication capture the complex and nuanced process of communication and are commonly used with adults, yet the existing literature among adolescents overwhelmingly relies on self-report measures. In the current paper, we reviewed the literature on adolescent partner sexual communication, identifying 14 studies including 2,043 participants (M age = 16) that used behavioral assessments (i.e., dyadic observations, role-plays with confederates, role-plays with vignettes). We also identify key gaps in the current literature: First, only one study recruited couples; studies that assessed dyadic interactions largely relied on confederates. Second, assessments often assumed that participants engaged in heterosexual sex, and no studies specifically recruited LGBTQ+ adolescents. Third, behavioral tasks often involved assumptions of participants' sexual goals (e.g., desire to refuse sex) and focused almost exclusively on sexual refusal and condom negotiation. Additionally, coding schemes lacked standardization and micro-analytic strategies (e.g., coding change over time). Finally, observational methods have been almost exclusively used to assess intervention efficacy, rather than to understand associations between behaviorally-assessed communication skills and sexual outcomes or self-reported communication in basic research. We discuss recommendations for future research, including regular use of behavioral observation methods with diverse samples, to triangulate across multiple methodologies and identify correspondence between behavioral and self-report measures.
... When used in tandem with self-reports, behavioral assessments may help researchers obtain a fuller picture of the sexual communication process and even better understand the validity of self-reports, such as if adolescents' self-reported communication self-efficacy or assertiveness maps onto their effective communication when discussing sex with another person. For a complete review and discussion of the behavioral measures used among adolescents, see Maheux et al. (2022). ...
Sexual communication between adolescent partners is an important component of sexual health and wellbeing. Over 40 years of research on adolescent sexual communication has yielded rich information, yet there remain gaps in our understanding of the communication process. The purpose of this scoping review was to synthesize the body of research on adolescent sexual communication to identify how communication has been conceptualized, how researchers have measured communication, and what theoretical frameworks have been applied across the literature. We identified 198 assessments of sexual communication across 119 quantitative studies. This work included 127,489 adolescents (Mage = 15.97) from 15 countries (81.5% U.S.-based). Most studies relied on self-reports (93.4%) and surveyed only one member of a couple (97.5%). The definition of sexual communication was highly varied across the literature: in half of assessments (52.0%) sexual communication was operationalized as a behavior-the verbal or nonverbal exchange of messages about sex-whereas the remaining half of assessments captured social-cognitive aspects of communication (e.g., communication self-efficacy, fear/anxiety). There was also a tendency for investigators to create their own idiosyncratic instruments: half of studies (48.9%) used instruments created by the research team with limited or no discussion of reliability/validity. Regarding the topic of communication, a third of assessments (33.8%) focused exclusively on condom communication and another quarter (24.0%) focused on other safer-sex issues (e.g., STDs, abstinence). Notably absent were studies focused on communication surrounding consent or sexual pleasure. Also absent was a guiding conceptual model or theory that could unify this body of work. Overall, results highlight gaps and inconsistencies in how partner sexual communication has been conceptualized, measured, and theorized about in previous work. We provide several recommendations for future theory-building efforts as well as rigorous, multimethod empirical investigations of adolescent sexual communication that would further our understanding of this important aspect of adolescent sexual wellbeing.
Substance-dependent adolescents (N = 34) in a residential drug treatment facility received either a 6-session behavior skills training HIV-risk reduction intervention or standard HIV education. After the intervention, adolescents who received behavior skills training exhibited increased knowledge about HIV–AIDS, more favorable attitudes toward prevention and condom use, more internal locus of control, increased self-efficacy, increased recognition of HIV risk and decreases in high-risk sexual activity. Self-report data were corroborated by records for the treatment of sexually transmitted diseases. The results from this pilot demonstration effort suggest that skills training based on cognitive–behavioral principles may be effective in lowering high-risk adolescents’ vulnerability to HIV infection and warrant evaluation in a controlled comparison with a larger sample.
Compared to studies on sexually transmitted infections and pregnancy prevention, sexual pleasure has received limited attention in the adolescent sexual development literature. In the present study, we used data from 157 adolescents (66 females; 14 to 17 years old), with a partnered sexual experience in the past 12 months to explore adolescents’ sexual pleasure. First, we examined adolescents’ perceptions of pleasure during their most recent partnered sexual experience. We then used information about those sexual experiences to identify correlates of sexual pleasure. Adolescents’ reports of sexual pleasure were mixed. Although 17.8% reported their sexual experience was extremely pleasurable and 36.5% reported it was quite pleasurable, 26.6% indicated moderate pleasure, 13.1% a little pleasure, and 3.3% reported no pleasure. Sexual pleasure was primarily associated with aspects of sexual experiences that reflected socioemotional intimacy and desire. Specifically, cuddling with partners, emotional intimacy, and wantedness were all associated with greater sexual pleasure. Additionally, adolescents found sex more pleasurable when it occurred with a friend, but less pleasurable when it involved genital rubbing. Most sexual behaviors, having experienced orgasm, and the situational context of sexual experiences were not associated with sexual pleasure. Thus, specific sexual behaviors and orgasm may have less impact on sexual pleasure than feelings of emotional intimacy and desire. The diversity of perceived sexual pleasure and its associations with intimacy and desire suggest that, during adolescence, partnered sexual experiences are not primarily motivated by anticipated physical pleasure.
Online sexual behaviors like sexting, viewing pornography online, and using the internet to start relationships are increasingly common among adolescents, yet research has struggled to keep pace. This study fills a gap in the sexual communication literature by examining the extent to which a sample of high school adolescents are discussing digital sexual topics with their parents and best friends compared to more traditional sexual topics (pregnancy, STDs, condoms, and abstinence). Participants were 226 U.S. high school students (M age = 16.25; 58% girls; 46% White, 25% Latino, 24% Black) who reported their digital sexual behavior and sexual communication in the past year. Rates of sexting, viewing pornography, and starting relationships online were high (89% had engaged in at least one of these behaviors; 35% engaged in all three behaviors); yet communication about these topics was generally low: only 7% of youth had discussed all three digital topics with their parents and 19% had discussed all three with their best friends. This is in contrast to nearly 50% of youth who discussed traditional topics with their parents and best friends. Patterns of communication and digital sexual behavior were similar by gender, with the exception of pornography: boys were more likely to view pornography and discuss it with friends than girls. Implications for adolescent development in the digital age are discussed.
We investigated youth’s self-reported socio-sexual competences (esteem, assertiveness, control, communication) within their most recent sexual partnerships, and explored disparities in these competences between romantic versus casual sexual partnerships, including age and gender differences therein. Data were used from 6,098 Dutch adolescents and young adults (12.1–26.1 years), who participated in a national study on sexual health. Results indicated that being in love and sexual activity frequency were significant confounders for the associations between sexual partnership typology and youth’s socio-sexual competence levels. After controlling for confounding relationship characteristics and sociodemographics, no differences were found between sexual partnership types in youth’s sexual esteem, assertiveness, and control. However, romantic sexual partnerships were characterized by more frequent sexual communication than casual sexual partnerships. This pattern was gender-consistent, but for young adults, this difference in sexual communication across sexual partnership types was larger than for adolescents. Our findings emphasize that considering the relationship context (e.g., romantic, casual) for the development, utilization, and evaluation of young people’s socio-sexual competences – particularly sexual communication – is a vital task for parents, educators, clinicians, and researchers. Individual (person-centered) versus relational (dyad-centered) differences in youth’s socio-sexual competences require further exploration, as does the link between socio-sexual competences and sexual health and satisfaction.
Objectives
Adolescent girls with emotional and behavioral difficulties (EBDs) have a heightened risk of negative sexual health, including HIV, other sexually transmitted infections (STIs), and unplanned pregnancy. Few evidence-based sexual health interventions are available for adolescent girls with EBDs. This study tested the feasibility, acceptability, and efficacy of a brief, online sexual health program called HEART (Health Education and Relationship Training).
Methods
Forty-seven participants (M-age = 15.79; SD = 1.71; 62% Black, 23% Hispanic) recruited from community-based organizations in the southeastern U.S. were compared to a non-equivalent comparison group who received an attention-matched intervention.
Results
Findings support the feasibility of participant recruitment and program administration in community-based settings. Participants completed HEART in 44 min and experienced few technological difficulties. HEART was highly acceptable: most participants liked, learned from, and were engaged with the program. Further, 92% would recommend HEART to a friend and 98% would use what they learned in the future. At posttest, intervention participants had significantly higher communication intentions, communication skills, STI/HIV knowledge, sexual self-efficacy, condom attitudes, and condom norms than the comparison group (ps < 0.003; effect size ds= 0.38–1.65). Significant improvement in condom intentions was observed when comparing pretest to posttest scores among intervention participants only, t(46) = −3.21, d= 0.47.
Conclusions
Findings support the feasibility, acceptability, and efficacy of HEART among adolescent girls with EBDs in community-based settings. This study also addresses the growing need for research into the transferability of sexual health interventions to facilitate evidence-based decision-making about program dissemination and implementation.
Empathy is widely regarded as relevant to a diverse range of psychopathological constructs, such as autism spectrum disorder, psychopathy, and borderline personality disorder. Cognitive empathy (CE) is the ability to accurately recognize or infer the thoughts and feelings of others. Although behavioral task paradigms are frequently used to assess such abilities, a large proportion of published studies reporting on CE use self-report questionnaires. For decades, however, a number of theorists have cautioned that individuals may not possess the metacognitive insight needed to validly gauge their own mindreading abilities. To investigate this possibility, we examined the aggregate relations between behavioral CE task performance and self-report CE scale scores, as well as with self-report affective empathy scale scores for comparison. Meta-analytic results, based on random effects models, from 85 studies (total N = 14,327) indicate that self-report CE scores account for only approximately 1% of the variance in behavioral cognitive empathy assessments and that, perhaps equally importantly, this relation is not significantly different from that demonstrated by affective empathy scores. Effect sizes were not moderated by self-report empathy domain, gender composition, unisensory versus multisensory behavioral stimuli presentation, child versus adult samples, or by normative versus clinical/forensic samples. Effect size estimates were not markedly affected by publication bias. These results raise serious concerns regarding the widespread use of self-report CE scores as proxies for CE ability, as well as the extensive theoretical conclusions that have been based on their use in past studies. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2019 APA, all rights reserved).
This article summarizes the state of the science on couples' observable interactions since Gottman and Notarius's (2000) decade review on the topic. The literature ranges from communication studies during various developmental periods in romantic relationships to the relation of couple interactions to personal health, well-being, and stress, comorbid disorders (depression and alcoholism), parenting, and the psychological functioning of children. After providing an overview of recent research in each topic area covered by Gottman and Notarius, we describe some well-established micro-and macrolevel coding systems and reflect on what is yet to be understood about couple communication, such as the interactional styles of culturally diverse couples, in general and during the process of couple therapy. Finally, we discuss recent technological advances and conclude with recommendations for future research in this area using various statistical analyses that account for systemic dyadic influences.
The onset of adolescence is a time of profound changes in motivation, cognition, behavior, and social relationships. Existing neurodevelopmental models have integrated our current understanding of adolescent brain development; however, there has been surprisingly little focus on the importance of adolescence as a sensitive period for romantic and sexual development. As young people enter adolescence, one of their primary tasks is to gain knowledge and experience that will allow them to take on the social roles of adults, including engaging in romantic and sexual relationships. By reviewing the relevant human and animal neurodevelopmental literature, this paper highlights how we should move beyond thinking of puberty as simply a set of somatic changes that are critical for physical reproductive maturation. Rather, puberty also involves a set of neurobiological changes that are critical for the social, emotional, and cognitive maturation necessary for reproductive success. The primary goal of this paper is to broaden the research base and dialogue about adolescent romantic and sexual development, in hopes of advancing understanding of sex and romance as important developmental dimensions of health and well-being in adolescence.
Resumen El propósito de la presente investigación fue evaluar la efectividad de un programa de intervención para promover la salud sexual de adolescentes que se encuentran en conflicto con la ley. Se trabajó con 118 adolescentes pertenecientes a una comunidad de diagnóstico. Se utilizó un diseño cuasiexperimental con un grupo de intervención y uno control, conformado por tres fases: preevaluación, intervención y postevaluación. La intervención consistió en cinco sesiones de dos horas cada una, y estuvo conformada por los elementos que responden al modelo ecológico en sus tres niveles: microsistema (conocimientos, creencias, actitudes, intención y autoeficacia para usar condón, autoestima, comunicación con pareja, estilos de negociación para usar condón, entre otras); mesosistema (apoyo, supervisión y comunicación con padre y madre, entre otras), y macrosistema (estereotipos de género). Se realizó un análisis de medidas repetidas. Los resultados mostraron cambios entre el grupo control y el experimental, a favor de este último en todas las variables del modelo, excepto en comunicación con la pareja y autoestima. Los hallazgos se discuten en términos de la importancia de diseñar programas con base en el modelo ecológico dirigidos a población que se encuentran en un ambiente privado de la libertad. Palabras clave: modelo ecológico, adolescentes, uso de condón, intervención, VIH/SIDA. Abstract The purpose of this research was to evaluate the effectiveness of an intervention program to promote sexual health of adolescents in conflict with the law. The study was carried out with 118 adolescents belonging to a diagnosis community. A quasi-experimental design was used with an intervention group and one control group, consisting of three phases: pre-evaluation, intervention and post-evaluation. The intervention, which consisted of five sessions of two hours each one, comprised the elements that respond to the ecological model in its three levels: micro-system (knowledge, believes, attitudes, intentions and self-efficacy to use condoms, self-esteem, communication with partner, negotiating styles, etc.); meso-system (support, supervision and communication with parent, etc.) and macro-system (gender stereotypes). An analysis of repeated measures was performed. Results showed changes between control and experimental groups, in favor of the latter in all the variables of the model, except for partner communication and self-esteem. The findings are discussed in terms of the importance of designing programs based on the ecological model aimed at people who are deprived of freedom.
The purpose of this research was to evaluate the effectiveness of an intervention program to promote sexual health of adolescents in conflict with the law. The study was carried out with 118 adolescents belonging to a diagnosis community. A quasi-experimental design was used with an intervention group and one control group, consisting of three phases: preevaluation, intervention and post-evaluation. The intervention, which consisted of five sessions of two hours each one, comprised the elements that respond to the ecological model in its three levels: micro-system (knowledge, believes, attitudes, intentions and self-efficacy to use condoms, self-esteem, communication with partner, negotiating styles, etc.); meso-system (support, supervision and communication with parent, etc.) and macro-system (gender stereotypes). An analysis of repeated measures was performed. Results showed changes between control and experimental groups, in favor of the latter in all the variables of the model, except for partner communication and self-esteem. The findings are discussed in terms of the importance of designing programs based on the ecological model aimed at people who are deprived of freedom.
Compared to the significant development of creativity studies, individual creativity research has not reached a meaningful consensus regarding the most valid and reliable method for assessing individual creativity. This study revisited 2 of the most popular methods for assessing individual creativity: subjective and objective methods. This study analyzed 1,500 individuals to investigate whether the methods for assessing individual creativity affect the measurement outcomes of individual creativity. Findings indicated that subjective assessments have a smaller variance a higher mean and a moderate but significant correlation with objective assessment methods. Such differences can be motivated by social desirability, consistency motif, illusory superiority, and leniency biases. Based on these findings, this study highlighted the need to acknowledge how subjective and objective assessment methods may affect individual creativity assessment outcomes.
In this article, I propose a sex-positive framework for research on adolescent sexuality in which I consider consensual sexual activities in adolescence as developmentally normative and potentially healthy. The sex-positive framework is contrasted with the predominant "risk" perspective that presumes that abstinence from sexual activity is the ideal behavioral outcome for teenagers. Evidence from longitudinal and behavioral genetic studies indicates that engaging in sexual intercourse in adolescence does not typically cause worse psychological functioning. The relationship context of sexual experience may be a critical moderator of its psychological impact. Moreover, cross-cultural data on adolescents' contraception usage, unintended pregnancy, and sexually transmitted infections suggest that, despite the unacceptably high rate of negative health consequences among U.S. teenagers, adolescents can have the developmental capacity to regulate the health risks inherent in sexual activity. Understanding adolescent sexuality can be fostered by considering sexual well-being, a multidimensional construct that incorporates an adolescent's sexual self-efficacy, sexual self-esteem, feelings of sexual pleasure and satisfaction, and freedom from pain and negative affect regarding sexuality. New research is necessary to understand the development of adolescent sexual well-being, including its normative age trends, its reciprocal links with sexual behavior, and its impact on psychological and physical health.
© The Author(s) 2014.
Research has identified links between dating and aversive behavior such as aggression and bullying in adolescence, highlighting the need for studies that further our understanding of romantic relationships and their dynamics during this period. This study tested the associations between dating popularity and overt and relational aggression, social preference, and peer popularity. Of particular interest were the moderating roles of social preference and peer popularity in the association of aggression with dating popularity. Further moderation by gender was also explored. Participants were 478 ninth-graders (48 % girls) with peer nomination scores for peer status, aggression, and dating popularity. Dating popularity was positively correlated with popularity, social preference, and overt and relational aggression. Regression models indicated that popular, overtly aggressive girls were seen as desirable dating partners by their male peers. Relational aggression was associated with dating popularity for both boys and girls, especially for youths who were well-liked by peers. These findings are interpreted in light of developmental-contextual perspectives on adolescent romantic relationships and Resource Control Theory.
Objective:
Condom use is critical for the health of sexually active adolescents, and yet many adolescents fail to use condoms consistently. One interpersonal factor that may be key to condom use is sexual communication between sexual partners; however, the association between communication and condom use has varied considerably in prior studies of youth. The purpose of this meta-analysis was to synthesize the growing body of research linking adolescents' sexual communication to condom use, and to examine several moderators of this association.
Method:
A total of 41 independent effect sizes from 34 studies with 15,046 adolescent participants (M(age) = 16.8, age range = 12-23) were meta-analyzed.
Results:
Results revealed a weighted mean effect size of the sexual communication-condom use relationship of r = .24, which was statistically heterogeneous (Q = 618.86, p < .001, I² = 93.54). Effect sizes did not differ significantly by gender, age, recruitment setting, country of study, or condom measurement timeframe; however, communication topic and communication format were statistically significant moderators (p < .001). Larger effect sizes were found for communication about condom use (r = .34) than communication about sexual history (r = .15) or general safer sex topics (r = .14). Effect sizes were also larger for communication behavior formats (r = .27) and self-efficacy formats (r = .28), than for fear/concern (r = .18), future intention (r = .15), or communication comfort (r = -.15) formats.
Conclusions:
Results highlight the urgency of emphasizing communication skills, particularly about condom use, in HIV/STI prevention work for youth. Implications for the future study of sexual communication are discussed.
Little is known about what strategies adolescents use in condom use negotiation, or what strategies are successful. In this paper, we report on analyses of the content of 306 adolescents' condom negotiation strategies in a role playing situation. Study participants were higher-risk adolescents recruited in an STD clinic and in a juvenile detention institution. Using an analogue, paper-and-pencil measure, adolescents wrote out the responses they would give to an opposite sex partner who was pressuring them to have sex without a condom. Responses were coded and reasons were grouped into four categories: use condoms, no sex, safety-related reasons, and socio-emolional appeals. Consistent with predictions, socio-emotional messages were more likely to be used with steady than casual partners, and no-sex messages were more likely to be used with casual than with steady partners. Implications for refining intervention design and for future research are discussed.
The purpose of this paper is to conduct a review of reviews to identify characteristics of effective sex and relationship education (SRE) interventions and/or programmes in young people to improve sexual health and identify barriers and facilitators for implementation. Six bibliographic databases were searched from 1986 to 2006 for systematic reviews that assessed SRE interventions or programmes in participants between 10 and 18 years old and their partners. All outcomes of improvement in sexual health were assessed and 30 systematic reviews were included. Effective interventions and/or programmes tended to be those targeting younger age groups before they become sexually active, focused interventions tailored to the physical and biological development stages, theory based, and abstinence education programmes that incorporate values of relationships and provide skills training and links to contraceptive services. Adequate training of personnel delivering the interventions and culturally sensitive programmes were identified as important facilitators of effectiveness. Future research should explore the appropriate age for initiating sex education and investigate targeting specific behaviour compared with multiple-outcome targeting. Research exploring the reasons for interventions focusing on specific populations (i.e. African and Hispanic origins), even if they were conducted in countries dominated by Caucasians, is warranted.
Assigned 36 high school sophomores to a no-training control condition or to a small group training condition in which Ss received contraceptive information, steps for solving problems, and practice in communicating decisions about sexual behavior. Compared with controls, trained Ss had more positive posttest scores on measures of sexual knowledge, interpersonal problem solving, and in vivo performance. At a 6-mo follow-up, Ss who participated in training groups had better attitudes toward family planning and were practicing more effective contraception than were controls. (32 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
The tendency for people to present a favourable image of themselves on questionnaires is called socially desirable responding (SDR). SDR confounds research results by creating false relationships or obscuring relationships between variables. Social desirability (SD) scales can be used to detect, minimise, and correct for SDR in order to improve the validity of questionnaire-based research. The aim of this review was to determine the proportion of health-related studies that used questionnaires and used SD scales and estimate the proportion that were potentially affected by SDR.
Adolescents demonstrate impaired decision-making in emotionally arousing situations, yet they appear to exhibit relatively mature decision-making skills in predominantly cognitive, low-arousal situations. In this study we compared adolescents' (13-15 years) performance on matched affective and cognitive decision-making tasks, in order to determine (1) their performance level on each task and (2) whether performance on the cognitive task was associated with performance on the affective task. Both tasks required a comparison of choice dimensions characterized by frequency of loss, amount of loss, and constant gain. Results indicated that in the affective task, adolescents performed sub-optimally by considering only the frequency of loss, whereas in the cognitive task adolescents used relatively mature decision rules by considering two or all three choice dimensions. Performance on the affective task was not related to performance on the cognitive task. These results are discussed in light of neural developmental trajectories observed in adolescence.
Adolescent females, particularly urban and low-income youth of color, are at particular risk for HIV infection. This article uses an empowerment perspective to consider the degree to which intrapersonal and interpersonal power dynamics in heterosexual relations have an impact on condom use among high-risk youth. Participants in this study were 333 African American and European American urban youth, ages 14–19 years, who were heterosexually active. Measures focused on interpersonal and intrapersonal factors thought to be associated with condom use. This model was most useful in predicting condom use among women and least useful in predicting condom use among male participants. Implications for empowerment theory and future research are discussed. Peer Reviewed http://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/45621/1/11199_2004_Article_224330.pdf
Traditional intervention with young women has done little to reduce the incidence of unwanted teenage pregnancy and childbearing. A new, more promising approach helps at-risk teenagers learn the interpersonal skills necessary to communicate effectively and use contraceptives successfully.
Two hundred forty-six African American adolescents were randomly assigned to an educational program or an 8-week intervention that combined education with behavior skills training including correct condom use, sexual assertion, refusal, information provision, self-management, problem solving, and risk recognition. Skill-trained participants (a) reduced unprotected intercourse, (b) increased condom-protected intercourse, and (c) displayed increased behavioral skills to a greater extent than participants who received information alone. The patterns of change differed by gender. Risk reduction was maintained 1 year later for skill-trained youths. It was found that 31.1% of youths in the education program who were abstinent at baseline had initiated sexual activity 1 year later, whereas only 11.5% of skills training participants were sexually active. The results indicate that youths who were equipped with information and specific skills lowered their risk to a greater degree, maintained risk reduction changes better, and deferred the onset of sexual activity to a greater extent than youths who received information alone.
The present investigation explored gender differences in sexual identity development--first same-sex attractions, self-labeling, same-sex sexual contact, and disclosure--among 164 sexual-minority young adults. Based on interviews, results indicated the value of assessing gender differences in the context, timing, spacing, and sequencing of sexual identity milestones. Adolescent males had an earlier onset of all milestones except disclosure. The context for sexual identity milestones were likely to be emotionally oriented for young women and sexually oriented for young men. The gap from first same-sex attractions (8-9 years of age) to first disclosure (around 18 years) averaged 10 years for both sexes. Young women followed label-first developmental trajectories; men were more likely to pursue sex before identifying themselves as gay. In terms of achieving sexual identity milestones, gender mattered, but it was not everything.
The fifth edition of a work that defines the field of cognitive neuroscience, with entirely new material that reflects recent advances in the field. Each edition of this classic reference has proved to be a benchmark in the developing field of cognitive neuroscience. The fifth edition of The Cognitive Neurosciences continues to chart new directions in the study of the biological underpinnings of complex cognition—the relationship between the structural and physiological mechanisms of the nervous system and the psychological reality of the mind. It offers entirely new material, reflecting recent advances in the field.
Many of the developments in cognitive neuroscience have been shaped by the introduction of novel tools and methodologies, and a new section is devoted to methods that promise to guide the field into the future—from sophisticated models of causality in brain function to the application of network theory to massive data sets. Another new section treats neuroscience and society, considering some of the moral and political quandaries posed by current neuroscientific methods.
Other sections describe, among other things, new research that draws on developmental imaging to study the changing structure and function of the brain over the lifespan; progress in establishing increasingly precise models of memory; research that confirms the study of emotion and social cognition as a core area in cognitive neuroscience; and new findings that cast doubt on the so-called neural correlates of consciousness.
Sexual communication between adolescent partners is an important component of sexual health and wellbeing. Over 40 years of research on adolescent sexual communication has yielded rich information, yet there remain gaps in our understanding of the communication process. The purpose of this scoping review was to synthesize the body of research on adolescent sexual communication to identify how communication has been conceptualized, how researchers have measured communication, and what theoretical frameworks have been applied across the literature. We identified 198 assessments of sexual communication across 119 quantitative studies. This work included 127,489 adolescents (Mage = 15.97) from 15 countries (81.5% U.S.-based). Most studies relied on self-reports (93.4%) and surveyed only one member of a couple (97.5%). The definition of sexual communication was highly varied across the literature: in half of assessments (52.0%) sexual communication was operationalized as a behavior-the verbal or nonverbal exchange of messages about sex-whereas the remaining half of assessments captured social-cognitive aspects of communication (e.g., communication self-efficacy, fear/anxiety). There was also a tendency for investigators to create their own idiosyncratic instruments: half of studies (48.9%) used instruments created by the research team with limited or no discussion of reliability/validity. Regarding the topic of communication, a third of assessments (33.8%) focused exclusively on condom communication and another quarter (24.0%) focused on other safer-sex issues (e.g., STDs, abstinence). Notably absent were studies focused on communication surrounding consent or sexual pleasure. Also absent was a guiding conceptual model or theory that could unify this body of work. Overall, results highlight gaps and inconsistencies in how partner sexual communication has been conceptualized, measured, and theorized about in previous work. We provide several recommendations for future theory-building efforts as well as rigorous, multimethod empirical investigations of adolescent sexual communication that would further our understanding of this important aspect of adolescent sexual wellbeing.
The purpose of this study was to move beyond a sexual risk framework to investigate the possible associations among three sex-positive constructs for adolescents: their sexual self-concept (i.e., their positive/negative feelings about themselves as sexual beings), their sexual communication with romantic/sexual partners, and their sexual communication self-efficacy. We also examined differences in these constructs by sexual intercourse experience and gender. Participants were 171 adolescents who had been in a dating or sexual relationship in the past year (Mage = 16.32 years; 64.3% girls). Compared to girls, boys had more positive sexual self-concepts but less self-efficacy to communicate with their partners about sex. Adolescents who reported having had sexual intercourse had more positive sexual self-concepts as well as more frequent partner sexual communication compared to adolescents without sexual intercourse experience. Adolescents with a more positive sexual self-concept had higher sexual communication self-efficacy and reported more frequent sexual communication. In addition, sexual communication self-efficacy partially mediated the relationship between sexual self-concept and sexual communication. Results highlight the connection between sexual self-concept and sexual communication and contribute to a growing body of work on the positive aspects of adolescent sexuality.
Accumulating evidence indicates weak correlations between self-report and behavioral measures of the same construct. We suggest that these weak correlations result from the poor reliability of many behavioral measures and the distinct response processes involved in the two measurement types. We also describe how researchers can benefit from appropriate use of these measures.
Communication with sexual partners about protection against sexually transmitted infections (STIs) is associated with safer sexual behaviors among general populations of youth, but little is known about partner communication among American Indian youth. We assessed the prevalence of adolescents’ communication with sexual partners about STI prevention and used multivariable logistic regression to examine associations between communication and safer sexual behaviors (condom use, reliable contraceptive use, and dual method use) among a statewide sample of in-school, American Indian youth in Minnesota in 2013 and 2016 (n = 739). Half (49.5%) of sexually experienced American Indian youth reported talking about STI prevention at least once with every sexual partner. Communication was associated with all examined safer sexual behaviors among females and only with condom use among males. Study findings highlight the importance of school nurses, health educators, and other clinicians addressing partner communication when counseling adolescent patients.
Social and health disparities compromise Northern and Indigenous adolescents’ wellbeing in the Northwest Territories (NWT) where food insecurity, sexually transmitted infections (STI), and depression prevalence are higher than other Canadian regions. Condoms are an accessible STI prevention strategy for adolescents, yet depression and food insecurity may constrain condom use self-efficacy. The potential role of resilience in cultivating condom use self-efficacy is understudied. This study examined factors associated with condom use self-efficacy among Northern and Indigenous adolescents. We examined: (1) resilience as a mediator in the relationship between depression and condom use self-efficacy; (2) if food insecurity influenced the indirect effect of depression on condom use self-efficacy through resilience; and (3) condom use self-efficacy as a mediator of the relationship between resilience and condom use. We conducted a cross-sectional survey in 17 NWT communities with adolescents aged 13–18 who had attended a peer leadership training held by a NWT sexual health organization. We conducted descriptive statistics, followed by ordinary least squares regression to test the mediation models, and a conditional process analysis to examine the moderating role of food insecurity in the relationship between depression, resilience, and condom use self-efficacy. Most participants (n = 86; mean age: 15.77, SD = 2.05) identified as Indigenous (n = 65; 77.4%) and women (n = 70; 82.4%) and reported depressive symptoms (n = 54; 70.1%). Results suggest that resilience mediated the relationship between depression and condom use self-efficacy, and among sexually active participants, resilience mediated the association between condom use self-efficacy and condom use. There was a significant positive interaction effect between resilience and food insecurity on condom use self-efficacy, suggesting that food insecure participants with higher resilience reported higher condom use self-efficacy. Findings can inform strengths-based, resilience focused strategies to advance sexual health among Northern adolescents. These findings underscore the need to address syndemics of poverty, mental health, and sexual health.
Purpose:
To better understand sexual health disparities among African-American sexual minority adolescents.
Methods:
African-American adolescents (N = 1120; mean age = 15.24 years) were recruited from 4 cities (Columbia, SC; Macon, GA; Providence, RI; Syracuse, NY) to a larger trial. The current analyses used data from the 18-month follow-up when adolescents reported on their sexual partnerships, condom use knowledge, self-efficacy and outcome expectancies for condom use, sexual risk behavior, and STI testing history.
Results:
Compared with heterosexual adolescents, sexual minority adolescents reported more concerns about potential relationship harms resulting from safer sex negotiation. Sexual minority adolescents were also more likely to engage in riskier sexual behaviors, with females reporting more sexual partners and drug use prior to sex, and males reporting inconsistent condom use and higher rates of HIV.
Conclusions:
African-American sexual minority adolescents evidence disparities in sexual risk behavior and STI history that appear to result from interpersonal and relationship concerns. These concerns need to be targeted in sexual health interventions for sexual minority adolescents.
Objectives:
To evaluate the efficacy of an interactive, Web-based sexual health program (Health Education and Relationship Training [HEART]) for developing sexual assertiveness skills and enhancing sexual decision-making in adolescent girls.
Methods:
Participants were 222 tenth-grade girls (mean age = 15.2; 38% White, 29% Hispanic, 25% Black) in the Southeastern United States who were randomized in fall 2015 to the HEART intervention or an attention-matched control. We assessed participants at pretest, immediate posttest, and 4-month follow-up.
Results:
Both groups had similar demographic and sexual behavior characteristics at pretest. At immediate posttest, girls who completed the HEART program demonstrated better sexual assertiveness skills measured with a behavioral task, higher self-reported assertiveness, intentions to communicate about sexual health, knowledge regarding HIV and other sexually transmitted diseases (STDs), safer sex norms and attitudes, and condom self-efficacy compared with the control condition. At 4-month follow-up, group differences remained in knowledge regarding HIV and other STDs, condom attitudes, and condom self-efficacy.
Conclusions:
This brief online sexual health program can improve short-term outcomes among adolescent girls and offers an exciting new option in the growing array of digital health interventions available to youths.
Trial registration number:
NCT02579135. (Am J Public Health. Published online ahead of print November 21, 2017: e1-e7. doi:10.2105/AJPH.2017.304106).
Context:
The typical understanding of sexual debut as first vaginal intercourse is often irrelevant to sexual minority youth. Better understanding of sexual initiation patterns among these youth is necessary to inform efforts to safeguard their sexual and reproductive health.
Methods:
Early sexual experiences were examined among 1,628 female and 526 male sexual minority participants in Waves 1 (1994-1995) and 4 (2008) of the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent to Adult Health. Latent class analyses identified initiation patterns distinguished by the timing, sequence and spacing of first experiences of sexual behaviors. Multinomial logistic regression analyses assessed correlates of various patterns.
Results:
Initiation classes for females were categorized as typical debut (representing 41% of the sample, characterized by vaginal intercourse and short spacing between first two behaviors); dual behavior debut (35%, characterized by vaginal and oral sex in the same year); early sexual debut (17%, characterized by average debut at 13, vaginal intercourse, and anal sex before 18); and delayed debut with oral sex (6%). Male classes were single behavior (50%, characterized by oral sex and longer spacing); multiple behavior (32%, characterized by vaginal and oral sex); early anal sex (11%, characterized by anal intercourse before 18); and very early debut (6%, characterized by oral sex and average debut at 10). Class membership was associated with socioeconomic status for females; age and sexual victimization for males; and race, ethnicity and religiosity for both.
Conclusions:
Initiation patterns of sexual minority youth differ between genders and involve noncoital behaviors and characteristics beyond timing.
During adolescence, individuals are particularly susceptible to social influence. One explanation for this is that social stimuli have a heightened reward value at this age. To date, most evidence for heightened social reward in adolescence is found in the animal literature. Human adolescents show increased activation in fronto-striatal brain regions to rewarding social stimuli, but also to negative social stimuli, suggesting that adolescence may be a period of hypersensitivity to all social stimuli. Additional evidence from humans and animals suggest that the presence of others may heighten the value of non-social rewards; these findings should be incorporated into theories of social reward in adolescence.
Late adolescence and emerging adulthood (specifically ages 15-24) represent a period of heightened sexual risk taking resulting in the greatest annual rates of sexually transmitted infections and unplanned pregnancies in the US population. Ongoing efforts to prevent such negative consequences are likely to benefit from a deepening of our understanding of biological mechanisms through which sexual risk taking emerges and biases decision making during this critical window. Here we present a neuroscience framework from which a mechanistic examination of sexual risk taking can be advanced. Specifically, we adapt the neurodevelopmental triadic model, which outlines how motivated behavior is governed by three systems: approach, avoidance, and regulation, to sexual decision making and subsequent risk behavior. We further propose a testable hypothesis of the triadic model, wherein relatively decreased threat-related amygdala reactivity and increased reward-related ventral striatum reactivity leads to sexual risk taking, which is particularly exaggerated during adolescence and young adulthood when there is an overexpression of dopaminergic neurons coupled with immature top-down prefrontal cortex regulation. We conclude by discussing how future research based on our adapted triadic model can inform ongoing efforts to improve intervention and prevention efforts.
Assertive communication has been associated with higher levels of condom use among youth using self-report survey methodology. The purpose of this study was to examine the subjective ratings of assertiveness among young, romantically involved couples in the context of a condom negotiation task.
Using an innovative video-recall procedure, 32 couples (64 youth) engaged in a videotaped condom negotiation task and then rated self and partners' level of assertiveness. Both individual ratings of assertiveness and couple-level assertiveness were assessed using dyadic hierarchical linear modeling.
Individuals' assertiveness was positively associated with condom use. Unexpectedly, the overall level of assertiveness in couples showed a curvilinear association with condom use. Very high and very low assertiveness was associated with lower condom use, whereas moderate levels of assertiveness were associated with higher condom use.
Moderate levels of assertiveness during condom negotiation may facilitate condom use in young couples. Increasing condom use among romantic partners may require developing interventions that strengthen youths' ability to engage in assertive communication strategies that balance emotional intimacy with self-advocacy.
Copyright © 2015 Society for Adolescent Health and Medicine. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
Introduction
Because of high rates of pregnancy and sexually transmitted infections among adolescents, factors influencing adolescents' contraceptive use require close examination. This study explores how different types of partner communication relate to contraceptive use among adolescent girls and whether these associations vary by relationship status.
Method
Cross-sectional, self-report data from 253 sexually active 13- to 17-year-old girls were used to examine associations between partner communication, relationship status, and contraceptive consistency.
Results
In a multivariate analysis, partner communication specific to contraceptive use (RR = 1.3, p < .001) and “steady” partnership status (RR = 0.65, p < .01) were associated with hormonal contraceptive consistency. In interaction models, the impact of partner communication on hormonal consistency was greater in steady partnerships than in casual partnerships.
Discussion
Findings suggest that clinicians should ask about the nature of adolescent girls' relationships with their sexual partners when encouraging contraceptive use. Early communication with partners about sexual topics should be stressed, especially among girls in steady relationships.
Youth in alternative schools often engage in high rates of risk behaviors for AIDS and violence. This study included 42 youth, ages 13 to 18, from alternative schools in San Diego, CA, and tested the effectiveness of behavioral skills training based on the Behavioral-Ecological Model. Two interventions were evaluated: one teaching condom use skills and the other teaching anger management skills. Changes in most skills were significant at postintervention but were not maintained at 6 months. Few risk-related attitudes or behaviors improved at 6 months for either group.
Purpose
This study examined adolescents' technology-based sexual communication with dating partners, and evaluated associations between technology-based communication and condom use.
Methods
Participants were 176 high school students who indicated their use of technology to communicate with partners about condoms, birth control, sexually transmitted infections (STIs), HIV/AIDS, pregnancy, and sexual limits. Sexually active youth also reported their frequency of condom use.
Results
Many adolescents (49%) used technology to discuss sexual health with partners, with rates varying by topic. Girls were more likely than boys to discuss HIV, pregnancy, and sexual limits. Ethnic minorities were more likely than whites to discuss condoms, STIs, HIV, pregnancy, and birth control. Importantly, rates of consistent condom use were three times higher among youth using technology to discuss condoms and birth control.
Conclusions
Results provide novel preliminary evidence regarding adolescents' use of technology to discuss sexual health and demonstrate links between technology-based communication and condom use among sexually active youth.
This article is part of a Special Issue "Puberty and Adolescence".This article aims to provide an outline of what is currently known on trajectories, and contributing factors to gender identity development in adolescence. We give a historical overview of the concept of gender identity, and describe general identity development in adolescence, gender identity development in the general population and in gender variant youth. Possible psychosocial (such as child and parental characteristics) and biological factors (such as the effects of prenatal exposure to gonadal hormones and the role of genetics) contributing to a gender variant identity are discussed. Studies focusing on a number of psychosocial and biological factors separately, indicate that each of these factors influence gender identity formation, but little is known about the complex interplay between the factors, nor about the way individuals themselves contribute to the process. Research into normative and gender variant identity development of adolescents is clearly lagging behind. However, studies on persons with gender dysphoria and disorders of sex development, show that the period of adolescence, with its changing social environment and the onset of physical puberty, seems to be crucial for the development of a non-normative gender identity.
Trying to understand why adolescents and young adults take more risks than younger or older individuals do has challenged psychologists for decades. Adolescents' inclination to engage in risky behavior does not appear to be due to irrationality, delusions of invulnerability, or ignorance. This paper presents a perspective on adolescent risk taking grounded in developmental neuroscience. According to this view, the temporal gap between puberty, which impels adolescents toward thrill seeking, and the slow maturation of the cognitive-control system, which regulates these impulses, makes adolescence a time of heightened vulnerability for risky behavior. This view of adolescent risk taking helps to explain why educational interventions designed to change adolescents' knowledge, beliefs, or attitudes have been largely ineffective, and suggests that changing the contexts in which risky behavior occurs may be more successful than changing the way adolescents think about risk.
Adolescents' romantic relationships have attracted popular interest, but, until recently, little scientific curiosity. Research has been impeded by erroneous assumptions that adolescent relationships are trivial and transitory, that they provide little information beyond measures of the influence of parent-child and peer relationships, and that their impact is primarily associated with problems of behavior and adjustment. This article proposes that distinguishing five features of romantic relationships (involvement, partner selection, relationship content, quality, and cognitive and emotional processes) is essential to describing adolescents' relationships and their developmental significance. These distinctions also help to clarify the role of context, age-related variations, and individual differences in the impact of romantic experiences. Research is needed to illuminate questions of how and under what conditions romantic relationships affect individual development and how romantic and other close relationships jointly influence developmental trajectories during adolescence.
Is it possible to conceptualize adolescent sexuality in positive terms? Social control characterizes the cultural strategies
for managing both adolescence and sexuality, yet social movements have emerged in recent decades that have challenged historical
social norms and boundaries for both sexuality and adolescence. In this article, developing trends in adolescent sexual experience
(behavior, attitudes, and knowledge) are examined, as are cultural, institutional, and person-level processes that characterize
the development of sexuality in adolescence. The real sexual experiences of contemporary youth are shown to present a remarkable
contradiction to hitherto traditional ideals for adolescent sexuality. This tension between typical adolescent experiences
and cultural expectations and proscriptions for adolescent sexual expression serves as a backdrop for examination of recent
and potential advances in programs, policies, and research regarding adolescent sexuality. The analysis of recent programs
and policies reveals underlying values that are fundamentally at odds, highlighting important avenues for future inquiry.
Unlabelled:
Sexual activity without clear consent, as one aspect of violence against women, is a significant global issue, especially during adolescence when young people are developing their values and beliefs about sexual activity and sexual norms. This narrative inquiry was performed to investigate influences on the sexual decision-making of late adolescents. Ten late adolescent females between the ages of 18 and 22 comprised the final sample. The results included the main finding that in the majority of these adolescents' sexual encounters, sexual consent was implied by the situation instead of being clearly stated. Inability to communicate with partners and the influence of alcohol were identified as contributing factors to implied sexual consent. Additionally, there was a pervasive normalization and acceptance of this type of nonconsensual sexual activity, and no one labeled these actions as rape or assault.
Implications:
Providers who work with adolescents need to assess sexual behaviors in greater detail and recognize that complex social factors and individual characteristics may contribute to an environment in which adolescents are at risk for nonconsensual sexual activity. Sexual violence education programs need to include information on negotiation and communication skills that will help adolescents mediate complicated interpersonal situations.
Review and conceptual analysis of the papers in this special issue calls attention to several important methodological and conceptual issues surrounding the direct observation of adolescent romantic couples. It also provides an important new foundation of knowledge about the nature of adolescents' romantic relationships. Connections with previous family relationships, new understandings of the distinctive nature of adolescent romantic relationships, and gender issues are clarified by this body of papers. Together, these papers move the scholarly field forward and generate new lines of questions for future investigators.
A general introduction to scripting theory is offered, attempting to provide links between macrolevel considerations of sociocultural development and general theories of individual development. The scripting of behavior is examined on three distinct levels: cultural scenarios (instruction in collective meanings), interpersonal scripts (the application of specific cultural scenarios by a specific individual in a specific social context), and intrapsychic scripts (the management of desires as experienced by the individual). These concepts of the scripting of behavior are then applied to sexual behavior. Interpersonal scripts are seen as the ordering of representations of self and other that facilitate the occurrence of a sexual act; intrapsychic scripts represent the ordering of images and desires that elicit and sustain sexual arousal. Issues of stability and change in sexual scripts are then examined in terms of the changing circumstances and requirements associated with movement through the life cycle.
With the increasing rate of HIV infection among adolescents, there is an urgent need for interventions that will provide teenagers with information, the ability to make decisions, and the assertiveness and communication skills required for effective prevention and risk reduction. This study evaluated an AIDS Risk Reduction Education and Skills Training (ARREST) program designed for adolescents, ages 12-16 years.
Eighty-seven inner-city, African-American (36%) and Latino (55%) adolescents were recruited from community-based after-school programs, and randomly assigned to either the ARREST intervention or a wait-list control group. Adolescents assigned to the ARREST intervention participated in three 90-minute intervention sessions. ARREST was evaluated by comparing pre- and post-test scores on a battery of self-report measures and videotaped role-play simulations.
Analyses revealed significant post-test differences between the ARREST and wait-list control groups, with teens in the ARREST group demonstrating significant changes in knowledge and negative attitudes about HIV/AIDS, perception of risk, and appropriate concern about contracting AIDS. Most importantly, adolescents in the ARREST group demonstrated a significant increase in behavioral skills for negotiating prevention and risk reduction, and resisting peer pressures to engage in risk-related sexual and drug-use behaviors.
ARREST was effective in meeting its short-term objectives for changes in knowledge and behavioral skills, which are important prerequisites for behavior change. Replication with long-term follow-up assessment is needed, however, to determine this intervention's effectiveness at changing risk-related sexual and drug-use behaviors.
The purpose of this study was to examine the assessment of AIDS-related social skills (measured by role play) in Anglo and Latino adolescents (N = 383) and to explore ethnic and gender differences on these skills. Eight skills were assessed on five measures evaluating molar, molecular, verbal, and nonverbal dimensions of behavior. Interrelationships between skills and measurement dimensions were examined using factor analysis. Results revealed that Anxiety and Nonverbal Behavior each loaded across different skills on individual respective factors, whereas verbal content and assertiveness measures loaded by skill on separate factors. Differences in skill emerged between female and male, and Latino and Anglo youth. Preliminary social validity data were collected for the skills assessed. Social validity results were skill specific, with judges validating certain skills and certain measurement dimensions more than others. Implications for future assessment and intervention research of AIDS-related social skills are discussed.
Despite considerable discussion in the literature about the advantages of observational research and the relative benefits of different coding systems and strategies, little is written about the actual implementation of this assessment strategy. This paper presents an overall framework as well as the essential components involved in collecting (selection of task, setting, unit of analysis, and coding system) and coding (transcribing, selecting and training coders, transforming data, and analyzing reliability) of observational data. To achieve success with observational methods, we emphasize several issues, including (a) the research question as the motivator for all decisions, (b) the interrelatedness of tasks, and (c) the implications of decisions early in the process for later stages of analysis and interpretation. Investigators are encouraged to communicate the details of their observational and coding procedures so that these methods are readily accessible for purposes of replication and comparison.