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Risky Sexual Behavior among Arrested Adolescent Males: The Role of Future Expectations and Impulse Control
Author(s) -
Knowles Alissa,
Rinehart Jenny K.,
Steinberg Laurence,
Frick Paul J.,
Cauffman Elizabeth
Publication year - 2020
Publication title -
journal of research on adolescence
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.342
H-Index - 95
eISSN - 1532-7795
pISSN - 1050-8392
DOI - 10.1111/jora.12499
Subject(s) - casual , psychology , impulse control , condom , impulse (physics) , developmental psychology , sexual behavior , impulse control disorder , intervention (counseling) , social psychology , clinical psychology , medicine , psychiatry , human immunodeficiency virus (hiv) , materials science , physics , syphilis , family medicine , quantum mechanics , pathology , pathological , composite material
The current study evaluates two predictors of adolescent sexual risk‐taking, specifically whether impulse control or future expectations predict condom use and casual sex. We examine whether risky sex occurs among youth who tend to act without thinking about the future, or instead, youth who report low future expectations. We consider these relations longitudinally among a sample of sexually active justice‐involved adolescent males ( N = 752, M age = 15.58) a group at heightened risk for sexual risk‐taking. We found that optimistic expectations for the future predict a higher likelihood of engaging in consistent condom use, whereas high impulse control is related to a lower likelihood of casual sex. Implications for intervention and research on positive sexual health are discussed.