Developmental Trajectories of Adolescent Romantic

Relationships, Sexual Behaviors, and Feelings of Depression

University of TennesseeCatherine M. GrelloJoseph W. DicksonDeborah P. WelshMelinda S. Harper

Matthew B. Wintersteen

PurposePrevious research has found romantic relationships to be associate with an increase in depressive symptoms in adolescence (Joyner & Udry, 2000). To further explore this association we investigate non-dating virgin adolescents over a one year period as some transition to dating and sexual behavior with romantic and non-romantic partners.

AbstractPrevious research has found romantic relationships associated with increased depressive symptoms in adolescents (Joyner & Udry, 2000). To further explore this association we investigated non-dating virgin adolescents (N=2344) from a nationally representative sample, over a 1-year period as some transition to dating and/or sexual behaviors in romantic and non-romantic relationships. Findings suggest that dating and sex may be more of a consequence rather than a contributor to adolescent depression. Adolescents who engage in sexual relationships were having social and emotional problems prior to their transition to dating or sexual intercourse. In addition, casual sex was associated with depressive symptoms as well as fighting and violence, particularly in middle adolescents. Perhaps these adolescents are attempting to help themselves feel better by engaging in sexual relationships (with or without emotional involvement); however, it is not working for them.

HypothesesADOLESCENTS WHO ENGAGE IN

CASUAL SEX WILL EXHIBIT HIGHER LEVELS OF DEPRESSIVE SYMPTOMS AT WAVE I AND WAVE II COMPARED TO ALL OTHER GROUPS.

ADOLESCENTS WHO ENGAGE IN CASUAL SEXUAL RELATIONSHIPS WILL EXHIBIT A HIGHER NUMBER OF PROBLEMATIC BEHAVIORS (i.e., delinquency and violence) COMPARED TO ALL OTHER GROUPS.

MethodSample was taken from both

waves of the public dataset of the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health (Add Health; Udry, 1998). Adolescents who had never dated and had not had intercourse in Wave I were included in this study (N=2344).

Method Adolescents were classified into five

trajectories based upon their involvement in dating relationships and in sexual activity at Wave II:

Non-Dating Virgins: those who had not transitioned to dating nor engaged in sexual intercourse (N=1158).

Dating Virgins: those who reported transition to dating and had not engaged in sexual intercourse (N=526).

Dating Non-Virgins: those who reported both transition to dating and had engaged in sexual intercourse only with a romantic partner (N=124).

Dating and Casual Sex: adolescents who reported both transition to dating and had engaged in sexual intercourse with at least one non-romantic partner (N=385).

Exclusively Casual Sex: adolescents who reported no transition to dating but were engaged in sexual intercourse with at least one non-romantic partner (N=151).

Adolescents were divided into two age groups:

Middle Adolescents= age 12-16 (n=1594)

Late Adolescents= age 17-21 (n=750)

Trajectories

WAVE 1NON-DATING

VIRGINSN=2344

NON-DATINGVIRGINSN=1158

DATINGNON-VIRGINS

N=124

DATING & CASUAL SEX

N=385

EXCLUSIVELYCASUAL SEX

N=151

DATINGVIRGINSN=526

MeasuresCenter of Epidemiological

Study of Depression (CES-D; Radloff, 1977).

Self-report from Add Health on behaviors associated with romantic and non-romantic relationships, delinquency, and fighting and violence.

AnalysesMultiple regressions were performed

to examine group differences in CES-D scores, delinquency, and violent behaviors from Wave I to Wave II.

A series of MANOVAs were performed to examine the multiple trajectories of sexual behaviors in adolescents’ romantic and non-romantic relationships and their impact on adolescent well-being.

DemographicsGender

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

Middle AdolMales

Late AdolMales

Middle AdolFemales

Late AdolFemalesNon-Dating

VirginDatingVirgin

Non-DatingNon-Virgin

Dating & Casual Sex

ExclusivelyCasual Sex

DemographicsRace/ethnicity

Middle Adolescents

Non-Dating Dating Dating Dating & ExclusivelyVirgin Virgin Non-Virgin Casual Sex Casual Sex

Caucasian 37.4% 20.6% 2.5% 6.1% 2.8%African American 12.1% 3.7% 1.4% 2.8% 2.3%Other 9 % 2.9% .7% 1.3% .6%

Late Adolescents

Caucasian 28.2% 11% 5.6% 19.5% 4.4%African American 6.2% 2.7% 1.2% 9.6% 4.7%Other 8.9 % 2.2% .8% 3.7% .8%

 

Sexual Activity 19% of the middle adolescents report

having transitioned to intercourse.Of those who transitioned to

intercourse 77% reported having at least one casual sexual relationship.

48% of the late adolescents reported having transitioned to intercourse.Of those who transitioned to

intercourse 87% reported having at least one casual sexual relationship.

Results Significant

differences were found in depressive symptomatology for both Waves I and II between dating groups, regardless of age, (R2=.369, F(2, 2336)=682.808, p<.001.

CES-D MeansBy Group

88.5

99.510

10.511

11.512

12.513

13.514

14.5

Middle Adol W IMiddle Adol W IILate Adol W ILate Adol W II

Non-DatingVirgin

DatingVirgin

DatingNon-Virgin

Dating & Casual

Sex

ExclusivelyCasual Sex

Gender Differences in Depressive Symptoms

In both Waves I and II, significant gender differences were found for depressive symptomatology, regardless of age or dating trajectory,R2=.376, F(3,2335)=468.988, p>.001.

Girls engaging in casual sex at any age were at the greatest risk for depression, F(2,2328)=28.922, p<.001.

Group Differences in Depression

by Age Middle adolescent, non-dating virgins and dating virgins had significantly fewer

depressive symptoms at both Waves I & II than those who were having sex, (F(8,3162)=13.407, p<.01).

Middle adolescent, non-dating virgins did not significantly differ from dating non-virgins and those engaged exclusively in casual sex on amount of change of depressive symptoms between Waves. However; dating virgins and those who engaged in only casual sex had significantly greater increases in depressive symptoms (F(4,1582)=4.014, p<.01). No significant group differences were found among late adolescents.

Significant

differences were found in delinquency for both Waves I and II between dating groups, regardless of age,(F(4,266.013)=7.183,p<.001).

Delinquency

Group Differences in Delinquency

by Age Middle adolescents

who engaged in dating and casual sex participated in significantly more delinquent behaviors compared to any other dating group, (F(4,160.782)=3.949, p<.01).

Late adolescents did not significantly differ in their participation in delinquent behaviors, regardless of dating group.

Delinquency & Depressive Symptoms

Delinquent behaviors in Wave I significantly predicted delinquent behaviors in Wave II, (R2=.319, F(1,2330)=1093.415, p<.001).

When controlling for depression in Wave I delinquent behaviors at Wave II were found significantly associated with depressive symptoms in Wave II, (R2=.384, F(1,2336)=727.412, p<.001). As delinquent behaviors increased so did depressive symptoms.

Fighting and Violence by Group

Fighting and violent behaviors were found significantly associated with casual sex for middle adolescents (F(4, 1584)=38.987, p<.001) and late adolescents, (F(4, 740)=13.024, p<.001). Those adolescents who reported engaging in casual sexual relationships reported the highest levels of fighting and violent behaviors.

There was a significant interaction between gender and group. Middle adolescent males who engaged in casual sex reported the highest levels of fighting and violent behaviors,

(F(4, 1584)=14.696, p<.001).

Breaking UpFor middle adolescents,

experiencing a breakup of a romantic relationship was associated with an increase in depressive symptoms between Wave I and Wave II (R2=.365, F (2,2336)=670.152, p<.001).

Aspects of Romantic Relationships

The following aspects of romantic relationships were not found significantly associated with change in depressive symptoms from Wave I to Wave II:Length of romantic relationship .Age of first sexual intercourse. Time from first date to intercourse. Being in a current romantic

relationship.

Aspects of Non-romantic Relationships

The following aspects of non-romantic relationships were not found significantly associated with change in depressive symptoms from Wave I to Wave II: Length of non-romantic relationship. Age of first sexual intercourse in a non-

romantic relationship.Time from first “date” to intercourse. Being in a current non-romantic relationship. Number of non-romantic partners.

Summary Adolescents who transitioned to sex either in dating or casual

relationships were significantly higher in depressive symptoms at Wave II when compared to adolescents who did not transition to sexual behavior. However, these adolescents who transitioned to sex also had significantly higher levels of depressive symptoms at Wave I (prior to transition to dating or intercourse).

Adolescents who were involved in casual sexual relationships had the highest levels of depressive symptoms at both Waves.

These findings suggest that dating and sex may be a consequence rather than a contributor to adolescent depression. Adolescents who engage in sexual relationships are having problems prior to transition to dating or intercourse. Perhaps these adolescents are attempting to help themselves feel better by engaging in sexual relationships (with or without emotional involvement); however, it is not working for them.

Several aspects of romantic and non-romantic relationships were explored. Only breaking up was found significantly associated with change in depressive symptoms and only in middle adolescents. Middle adolescents who experienced the termination of a romantic relationship were found to be significantly affected by the dissolution.

These findings suggest that casual sex with or without dating may be a symptom rather than a cause of depression in adolescence. Those adolescents who engaged in casual sexual relationships were also found to participate in other “risk” behaviors for depression, such as fighting and violence at both Waves. Particularly, middle adolescents who engage in casual sexual relationships were also found to engage in significantly more delinquent behaviors at both Wave I and Wave II. Additionally, delinquent, fighting and violent behaviors were found to be significantly associated with depressive symptomology at both Waves.

Much of the previous research that has examined transition to dating and sexual behaviors has not examined the role of casual sex. In this study we began with adolescents who had neither transitioned to dating nor sexual intercourse. By examining the different trajectories one year later, we found that transition to dating did not have the deleterious effects others have found. What we did find was that once an adolescent transitions to intercourse, the transition to casual sexual relations is not far behind. Additionally, it appears that adolescents who engage in casual sex have more problems emotionally and socially prior to transition. Those that date and have casual sex have a significant increase in depressive symptoms between Waves. Because those who engage exclusively in casual sex did not experience this increase in symptomology, perhaps the increase can be attributed to some other aspect of the individual (e.g., guilt associated with infidelity, embarrassment of a one night stand) rather than sexual behavior per se.

Conclusion

AcknowledgementThe data used for this poster presentation were made available by the American Family Data Archive (AFDA), Sociometrics Corporation, 170 State Street, Suite 260, Los Altos, CA 94022-2812. The study entitled The National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health (Add Health), Wave I & II, 1994- 1996 was conducted by J. Richard Udry of the Carolina Population Center, CB# 8120, University Square, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC 27516-3997. Funding for the data collection was provided by the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD) under Grant No. P01-HD31921. Funding support for preparing the revised documentation for public distribution was provided by a grant (2 R44-HD31776) from the NICHD to Sociometrics Corporation. The original investigators, funding agency, and Sociometrics Corporation are not responsible for the analyses or interpretations presented here.