Halpern Carolyn Tucker, Kaestle Christine E, Hallfors Denise Dion
Department of Maternal & Child Health, CB 7445, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC 27599-7445, USA.
Prev Sci. 2007 Mar;8(1):1-10. doi: 10.1007/s11121-006-0046-1.
Early pubertal timing and advanced physical maturity for age confer elevated risk for problem behaviors for both boys and girls. However, examinations of possible biological and social mediators have been limited. Using more than 4,000 adolescents under age 15 who participated in Waves I and II of the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health (Add Health), we examined the relationship between perceived physical maturity and membership in risk behavior clusters, and tested whether having a romantic partner mediates the maturity/risk behavior relationship. Results of multinomial regression models indicated that for both boys and girls, advanced physical maturity was associated with membership in higher risk clusters, and that having a romantic partner plays an important mediating role in this association. For females, the additional impact of having an older partner, versus any partner at all, was substantial and particularly important for the highest risk clusters. The role of partner age could not be tested for males. Because romantic partners elevate risk for young adolescent males and females, there is a need to identify and understand facets and developmental functions of adolescent romantic relationships that play a role in substance use and sexual decisions.
青春期提前到来以及相对于年龄而言身体早熟，会增加男孩和女孩出现问题行为的风险。然而，对于可能的生物学和社会调节因素的研究一直很有限。我们利用4000多名15岁以下参与了青少年健康全国纵向研究（Add Health）第一波和第二波调查的青少年，研究了自我认知的身体成熟度与危险行为集群成员身份之间的关系，并测试了拥有恋爱伴侣是否会调节成熟度与危险行为之间的关系。多项回归模型的结果表明，对于男孩和女孩来说，身体早熟都与更高风险集群的成员身份有关，并且拥有恋爱伴侣在这种关联中起着重要的中介作用。对于女性而言，拥有年长伴侣相对于拥有任何伴侣所产生的额外影响很大，对于最高风险集群尤其重要。男性的伴侣年龄作用无法进行测试。由于恋爱伴侣会增加青少年男性和女性的风险，因此有必要识别并理解青少年恋爱关系中在物质使用和性决策方面起作用的各个方面及其发展功能。
