Department of Psychology, Population Research Center, The University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX 78712, USA.
J Youth Adolesc. 2011 Jul;40(7):825-38. doi: 10.1007/s10964-010-9601-y. Epub 2010 Nov 11.
Despite the well-established association between adolescent sexual activity and delinquent behavior, little research has examined the potential importance of relationship contexts in moderating this association. The current study used longitudinal, behavioral genetic data on 519 same-sex twin pairs (48.6% female) divided into two age cohorts (13-15 and 16-18 years olds) drawn from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health. Analyses tested whether adolescent sexual activity that occurred in romantic versus non-romantic relationships was associated with delinquency from adolescence to early adulthood, after controlling for genetic influences. Results indicated that, for both younger and older adolescents, common underlying genes influence both sexual behavior and delinquency. After controlling for these genetic influences, there was no within-twin pair association between sexual activity and delinquency in younger adolescents. In older adolescents, sexual activity that occurred in romantic relationships predicted lower levels of delinquency, both cross-sectionally and longitudinally, whereas sexual activity in non-romantic relationships predicted higher levels of delinquency. These results are consistent with emerging research that suggests that the psychological correlates of adolescent sexual activity may be moderated by the social context in which this activity occurs.
尽管青少年性行为与犯罪行为之间存在着明确的关联，但很少有研究探讨关系背景在调节这种关联方面的潜在重要性。本研究使用了来自全国青少年健康纵向研究的 519 对同性双胞胎（48.6%为女性）的纵向行为遗传学数据，分为两个年龄组（13-15 岁和 16-18 岁）。分析测试了青少年在浪漫关系和非浪漫关系中发生的性行为是否与青少年期到成年早期的犯罪行为有关，同时控制了遗传影响。结果表明，对于年轻和年长的青少年来说，共同的潜在基因同时影响性行为和犯罪行为。在控制了这些遗传影响后，在年轻的青少年中，双胞胎之间的性行为与犯罪行为之间没有内在关联。在年长的青少年中，浪漫关系中的性行为既在横断面也在纵向预测了较低的犯罪水平，而非浪漫关系中的性行为则预测了较高的犯罪水平。这些结果与新兴研究一致，即青少年性行为的心理相关性可能受到这种行为发生的社会背景的调节。
