Department of Health Policy and Management, Gillings School of Global Public Health, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, North Carolina 27599-7411, USA.
J Adolesc Health. 2010 Dec;47(6):582-90. doi: 10.1016/j.jadohealth.2010.04.009. Epub 2010 Jun 18.
To determine whether higher self-esteem and higher academic performance among youth reduce the likelihood of early sexual intercourse and illegal substance use.
Using data from waves I-III of the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health, this study used multivariate logistic regression, stratified by gender and controlling for known covariates, to examine relationships between self-esteem and academic performance and youth decision-making, specifically self-reported initiation of sexual intercourse and use of illegal substances. Self-esteem was constructed as an ascending scale of 10 Likert-scaled survey items. Academic performance was assessed using the most recent grades from English, Math, Science, and History.
Among virginal adolescents, higher self-esteem at baseline had no effect on sexual debut 1 year later. However, higher self-esteem at baseline among females corresponded with a significantly lower likelihood of illegal substance use 1 year later (OR, .96; p = .003). In terms of academic performance at baseline, girls averaging "A" grades as compared with girls averaging "C" grades or lower were significantly less likely to initiate sexual intercourse 1 year later (OR, .52; p = .004). Additionally among girls, being an "A" student or a "B" student was associated with lower odds of illegal substance use, compared with students who averaged "C" grades or lower (p < .01). Among young boys, self-esteem and academic performance were not significantly predictive of illegal substance use.
This study suggests that bolstering self-esteem and improving academic performance among young girls may have specific benefits in sexual decision-making and substance-related risk-taking.
确定青少年中较高的自尊心和较好的学业成绩是否会降低其早期发生性行为和使用非法物质的可能性。
本研究使用来自青少年纵向研究的 I-III 期数据，采用多元逻辑回归，按性别分层，并控制已知协变量，检验自尊心和学业成绩与青少年决策之间的关系，特别是自我报告的性行为开始和使用非法物质的情况。自尊心是通过 10 个李克特量表调查项目的升序量表构建的。学业成绩是通过最近的英语、数学、科学和历史成绩来评估的。
在处女青少年中，基线时较高的自尊心对 1 年后的性初体验没有影响。然而，基线时较高的自尊心与女性 1 年后非法物质使用的可能性显著降低有关（OR，.96；p =.003）。就基线时的学业成绩而言，与平均成绩为“C”或以下的女孩相比，平均成绩为“A”的女孩 1 年后发生性行为的可能性显著降低（OR，.52；p =.004）。此外，与平均成绩为“C”或以下的学生相比，女孩中成绩为“A”或“B”的学生发生性行为的可能性较低（p <.01）。在年轻男孩中，自尊心和学业成绩与非法物质使用的可能性没有显著相关性。
本研究表明，增强年轻女孩的自尊心和提高学业成绩可能对其性决策和与物质相关的冒险行为有特定的益处。
