Adolescent Women's Sports Involvement and Sexual Behavior/Health: A Process-Level Investigation

This multimethod study explored the promising link between organized sports involvement during the high school years and sexual behavior/health among 176 adolescent women. Using more sensitive and appropriate measures than those in existing studies and directed, in part, by cultural resource theory,...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of youth and adolescence 2004-10, Vol.33 (5), p.443-455
Main Authors: Lehman, Stephanie Jacobs, Koerner, Susan Silverberg
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Adolescent girls
Adolescent Pregnancy
Adolescents
Biological and medical sciences
Community Programs
Content Analysis
Correlation analysis
Empowerment
Females
Health Behavior
Health Care Utilization
High school sports
High School Students
High schools
Involvement
Medical sciences
Pregnancy
Prevention and actions
Public health. Hygiene
Public health. Hygiene-occupational medicine
Reproductive health
Sexual Behavior
Sexual behaviour
Sexual health
Sexuality
Specific populations (family, woman, child, elderly...)
Sports
Sports Participation
Student participation
Team Sports
USA
Venereal Diseases
Women
Womens Athletics
Womens health
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Summary:This multimethod study explored the promising link between organized sports involvement during the high school years and sexual behavior/health among 176 adolescent women. Using more sensitive and appropriate measures than those in existing studies and directed, in part, by cultural resource theory, this study helped to fill a gap in the literature by exploring potential mediators (i.e., functional body orientation and self-empowerment/ efficacy) of that link. Results from the quantitative data indicated that adolescent women's involvement in organized team sports was favorably associated with each of the following: (a) sexual-risk-taking behavior, (b) sexual/reproductive health-seeking behavior, and (c) sexual/reproductive health. In addition, both functional body orientation and self-empowerment/efficacy emerged as mediators in the associations between sports involvement and sexual behavior/health among adolescent women. Content analysis of participant responses to open-ended items provided further confirmation of those mediating effects. Implications for the development of sports and community programs focused on the prevention of teenage pregnancy and STDs are discussed.
ISSN:0047-2891
1573-6601
DOI:10.1023/B:JOYO.0000037636.22596.41