FAMILY, PEER, AND INDIVIDUAL CORRELATES OF SEXUAL EXPERIENCE AMONG CAUCASIAN AND ASIAN-AMERICAN LATE ADOLESCENTS

This study explored ethnic and gender differences in sexual behavior a nd its correlates among 148 Caucasian American and 202 Asian American college students (mean age = 19.8 years). Among Asian Americans, diffe rences in mean number of sexual partners were not associated with diff erences in generational status, ethnic subgroup, or level of accultura tion as indicated by language usage at home. As expected, Caucasian Am ericans reported having had more sexual partners by late adolescence t o young adulthood than did Asian Americans, and males reported having had more partners than females, especially among Caucasian Americans. Measures of peer interactions and attitudinal and dispositional charac teristics showed consistent relations with number of sexual partners, but measures of perceived family relationships did not. In light of th e age group under study, discriminant analyses were used to explore th ose attributes that distinguish between virgins and nonvirgins, as wel l as between individuals reporting only one or two partners and those reporting more. Results showed that two discriminant functions formed from five key variables (involvement in risky behaviors, endorsement o f casual sex, perceived physical attractiveness, reported success in f orming romantic relationships, and religiosity) were successful in pre dicting three levels of sexual experience for 61% to 92% of the indivi duals in the groups studied.