Initiation of Coitus in Early Adolescence

This paper examines the determinants of initiation of coitus in early adolescence. Using a panel design on the population of whole schools, we tested determinants in three domains: motivation, social controls, and attractiveness. We obtained measures of variables from respondents, their identified f...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:American sociological review 1987-12, Vol.52 (6), p.841-855
Main Authors: Udry, J. Richard, John O. G. Billy
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Adolescence
Adolescents
Black White Differences
Child development
Coitus
Deviant behavior
Females
Human sexual behavior
Initiation
Mating behavior
Modeling
Mothers
Motivation
Parents
Permissiveness
Physical attractiveness
Sex
Sexual behavior
Sexual Intercourse
Social conditions & trends
Social control
Social research
Southern States
Youth
Citations: Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:This paper examines the determinants of initiation of coitus in early adolescence. Using a panel design on the population of whole schools, we tested determinants in three domains: motivation, social controls, and attractiveness. We obtained measures of variables from respondents, their identified friends, parents, and interviewers. We interpret the results within the framework of other findings from a hormone analysis of a partially overlapping sample. White males' initiation of coitus in early adolescence is dominated by motivational hormone effects and social attractiveness, with no observed effects of social controls. White females' initiation of coitus is dominated by the effects of social controls. We observed no effect of attractiveness, no hormone effects, and no effects of sexual motivation. Black females' initiation of coitus is dominated by their level of pubertal development (an attractiveness variable), with no observed effects of social controls.
ISSN:0003-1224
1939-8271
DOI:10.2307/2095838