Marseille 2007
| Abstract #402 - Explaining Initiation of Sexual Activity in South Africa with the Multiple Domain Model | ||||
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Session: 25.1: Couples (Parallel) on Monday @ 16.30-18.30 in PR Chaired by Jose Catalan, Giovanna Meystre-Agustone Authors: Presenting Author: Dr Rick Zimmerman - PIRE, United States |
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| Additional Authors: Dr Pamela Cupp, Dr Arvin Bhana, Dr Sonja Feist-Price, | ||||
| Aim: The models used most often to explain health-related behavior focus (e.g., Theory of Planned Behavior) rely exclusively on individual-level social psychological variables (e.g., attitudes, norms, and self-efficacy). We have developed a model, the Multiple Domain Model of health-related behavior (Zimmerman et al., 2006), that adds social structural variables (here--age, poverty, and gender), social environmental variables (here--educational aspirations and beliefs about masculinity), individual difference variables (sensation-seeking and impulsivity), and situational variables (here--alcohol use and relationship status) to attitudes, norms, self-efficacy, and intentions to explain or predict behavior. The goal in this paper is to test this model at predicting initiation of sexual activity in South African adolescents. | ||||
| Method / Issue: The data are taken from a study that assessed the impact of a school-based HIV and alcohol prevention curriculum with 9th grade students in peri-urban township schools near Pietermaritzburg, South Africa. Over 1150 students participated in the study; those 400 students retained for analysis for this paper are students who had not initiated sexual activity at baseline or Time 2 (4-6 months later) and who completed surveys at baseline, Time 2 and Time 3(an additional 12 months later). Structural equation modeling assessed relationships among gender, age, poverty, beliefs about masculinity, impulsivity, sensation-seeking, educational aspirations, positive attitudes toward waiting to have sex, perceived peer sexual activity, and refusal self-efficacy at baseline; relationship status, intention to have sex, and alcohol use at Time 2; and initiation of sexual activity at Time 3. | ||||
| Results / Comments: Results showed strong support for the Multiple Domain Model. Intention to have sex (B=.34), frequency of alcohol use (B=.26) and being in a relationship (B=.34) were all related to initiation of sexual activity one year later (R-square = .31). In turn, positive attitudes toward waiting to have sex (B=-.28), perceived peer norms for sexual activity (B= .24) and refusal self-efficacy (B=.13) were all related to intentions 4-6 months later (R-square = .18). Other strong relationships were between beliefs about masculinity and positive attitude toward waiting to have sex (B=.43), sensation-seeking and perceived peer sexual activity (B=.57), impulsivity and being in a relationship (B=.26), gender and positive attitudes toward waiting to have sex (B=.33), and age and frequency of alcohol use. | ||||
| Discussion: The Multiple Domain Model of health-related behavior successfully predicted early initiation of sexual activity in South African adolescents. Situational variables (alcohol use and relationship status), individual difference variables (sensation-seeking and impulsivity), social environmental variables (beliefs about masculinity and educational aspirations) and social structural variables (gender, age, and poverty) all added significantly to the explanation beyond the individual level social psychological variables of attitudes, norms, and refusal self-efficacy | ||||
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