ADOLESCENT LIFE EVENTS AND THEIR ASSOCIATION WITH THE ONSET OF SEXUALINTERCOURSE

This study examined the timing of several events marking the transitio n from adolescence to young adulthood and their correlation with the a ge at first sexual intercourse. The model included parental disruption , dropping out of school, working, drug use, and dating. Socioeconomic status, gender, and race were included as control variables. Data are taken from the National Survey of Children, a longitudinal study of c hildren ages 7-11 in 1976 who were reinterviewed in 1981 and 1986. Fac tors associated with first intercourse include age, tobacco use, marij uana use, dating, and parental divorce during the child's adolescent y ears. Age interacts with dating, working, and the use of illegal subst ances, and race interacts with dating and dropping out of school in th eir influence on first intercourse. Other transitions, such as alcohol use, parental divorce before adolescence, and parental marriage, had little influence on first sexual intercourse. Events such as dating ap pear to increase the risk of first intercourse, while the use of drugs may reflect a set of behaviors that occur simultaneously with sexual initiation. The correlated transitions identify a group of adolescents at risk for early sexual activity.