Sexual partners and contraceptive use: A 16-year prospective study predicting abstinence and risk behavior

Antecedents and correlates of sexual behavior among 167 (46% female) adolescents were examined in this multi-informant longitudinal study. Data were collected at birth through middle adolescence. Data on number of sexual partners and contraception use at age 16 defined sexual abstinence (SAs, n=73), high-risk sexual behavior (HRTs, n=45) and low-risk sexual behavior (LRTs, n=49) groups. Moffitt's (1993) antisocial behavior taxonomy, problem behavior theory (Jessor & Jessor, 1977), social control theory (Hierschi), and a biosocial model (dry, 1988) guided expectations of differential group prediction. Variables from each of three developmental periods (< age 12, ages 12-13, age 16) were significantly associated with sexual behavior groups. The most salient factors that differentiated LRTs from SAs were physical maturation at age 13 and romantic relationship progression and alcohol use at age 16. Romantic relationship progression and drug use at age 16 differentiated HRTs from SAs.