Published in

Taylor & Francis (Routledge), The Journal of Sex Research, 4(46), p. 290-300

DOI: 10.1080/00224490802666241

Links

Tools

Export citation

Search in Google Scholar

Work and Sexual Trajectories among African American Youth

This paper is available in a repository.
This paper is available in a repository.

Full text: Download

Green circle
Preprint: archiving allowed
Green circle
Postprint: archiving allowed
Red circle
Published version: archiving forbidden
Data provided by SHERPA/RoMEO

Abstract

The beneficial or deleterious effects of employment on youth and well-being have been highly contested. This study explores whether work influences youths' sexual risk correlates in a sample of African Americans (N = 562; 55% females; M = 14.5 years, SD = 0.6 years) followed longitudinally from adolescence to early adulthood. The study used growth curve modeling to test the association between number of hours worked and condom use, sex partners' age differences, and number of partners over time. Working a greater number of hours was associated with less condom use, with the effect varying by youths' grade point average. Working a greater number of hours was associated with older sex partners among female youth. No association was found between work and number of partners. The findings suggest that working during adolescence and early adulthood increased participants' sexual activity, thus lending some support for the work consequences perspective. The implications for future research and youth development programs are discussed.