Environmental risk factors and risky sexual behavior outcomes : attitudes as a mediating factor

iv LIST OF FIGURES v LIST OF TABLES vi CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION 1 CHAPTER TWO: REVIEW OF THE LITERATURE 8 Theoretical Basis: Bronfenbrenner’s Ecological Systems Theory 9 Risky Sexual Behavior 14 Jessor’s Problem Behavior Theory Adolescent Decision Making 17 Prevalence and Consequences of Adolescent Sexual Behaviors 19 Adolescent Decision-Making 23 Attitudes Related to Sexual Behavior 25 The Microsystem: Individual Variables 29 The Mesosystem: Familial and Extra Familial Variables 44 The Exosystem: Population Density, Poverty, and Arrest Rates 59 The Macrosystem: Race, Institutional Barriers, the Media, and