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Religiosity and Sexual Involvement Within Adolescent Romantic Couples

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Abstract

The impact of religiosity in adolescent romantic partnerships on sexual behavior was assessed. Data were obtained from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health reciprocated couples database using religious- and relationship-oriented variables to predict sexual involvement in 374 couples (748 participants). We found that individual- and couple-based religiosity impacted sexual behavior. These findings provide evidence for dyad religiosity as a component involved in the expression of sexual behavior in romantic relationships. The current results highlight the importance of incorporating a broad social perspective in order to understand the expression of adolescent sexual behavior.

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Acknowledgments

This research was supported by grants from the NIH/NIMH (KO1MH 66666, Matthew C. Aalsma, Principal Investigator) and HRSA/MCHB (T71-0008). We used data from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health (Add Health), a program project designed by J. Richard Udry, Peter Bearman, and Kathleen Mullan Harris and funded by a grant (P01-HD31921) from the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, with cooperation and funding from 17 other agencies. Persons interested in obtaining data files from Add Health should contact Add Health, Carolina Population Center, 123W. Franklin Street, Chapel Hill, NC 27516-2524; (http://www.cpc.unc.edu/projects/addhealth).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Behavioral Medicine and Clinical Psychology, Cincinnati Children’s Hospital, Cincinnati, OH, USA

    Brenna C. LeJeune

  2. Department of Pediatrics, Indiana University School of Medicine, Indianapolis, IN, USA

    Gregory D. Zimet, J. Dennis Fortenberry & Matthew C. Aalsma

  3. Department of Medicine, Indiana University School of Medicine, Indianapolis, IN, USA

    Faouzi Azzouz

  4. Section of Adolescent Medicine, Indiana University School of Medicine, 410 W. 10th St. Rm 1001, Indianapolis, IN, 46202, USA

    Matthew C. Aalsma

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  1. Brenna C. LeJeune
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  2. Gregory D. Zimet
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  3. Faouzi Azzouz
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  4. J. Dennis Fortenberry
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  5. Matthew C. Aalsma
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Correspondence to Matthew C. Aalsma.

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LeJeune, B.C., Zimet, G.D., Azzouz, F. et al. Religiosity and Sexual Involvement Within Adolescent Romantic Couples. J Relig Health 52, 804–816 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10943-011-9512-6

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10943-011-9512-6

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