Author ORCID Identifier
Document Type
Article
Publication Date
2-15-2013
Abstract
The study examined whether witnessing verbal parental aggression (VPA) was related to sexual activity among mostly low income African American youth, and whether psychological symptoms mediated this relationship. Five hundred and sixty-three African American high school adolescents (ages 13-19) completed self-administered questionnaires, which assessed demographics, psychological problems (e.g., depression, anxiety, aggression and posttraumatic stress disorder symptoms), witnessing VPA, and sexual activity. Participants who witnessed high versus no VPA were 2 times more likely to report sexual activity. This relationship was mediated by aggression for males and females, and posttraumatic stress disorder symptoms for females only. Youth service providers should be trained to understand the prevalence of co-occurring problems such as exposure to VPA, aggression, PTSD symptoms, and sexual activity, with the goal of more effectively supporting the healthy development of African American youth.
Keywords
adolescents, African American, psychological symptoms, sexual activity
Publication Title
Journal of Child and Family Studies
Volume
23
Issue
2
First Page
285
Last Page
292
Rights
© 2013 Springer Science+Business Media New York.
Recommended Citation
Voisin DR, Hotton A, Schneider J. Exposure to Verbal Parental Aggression and Sexual Activity among Low Income African American Youth. J Child Fam Stud. 2014 Feb 1;23(2):285-292. doi: 10.1007/s10826-013-9720-7. PMID: 24511216; PMCID: PMC3913223.
Comments
This is a peer reviewed Accepted Manuscript of an article published by Springer in Journal of Child and Family Studies, available at: 10.1007/s10826-013-9720-7