ArticleBMC public health2019
Early sexual debut and risky sex in young adults: the role of low self-control.
Article in BMC public health, 2019. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 34 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
34 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 107 citations in OpenAlex.
- Sex Education in Italy: An Overview of 15 Years of Projects in Primary and Secondary Schools.Archives of sexual behavior · 2023Pooled it
- Sex Education in the Spotlight: What Is Working? Systematic Review.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2021Pooled it
- Effects of gender-transformative relationships and sexuality education to reduce adolescent pregnancy (the JACK trial): a cluster-randomised trial.The Lancet. Public health · 2022Trial
- Profiles of Risky Sexual Behaviors and Associated Factors Among Sexually Active Men in Rwanda: A Nationwide Survey.Archives of sexual behavior · 2026Article
- Health literacy and risk behaviours related to sexually transmitted infections among Portuguese university students: a cross-sectional study.BMC public health · 2026Article
- Parental sexual health development support for emerging adolescents in western upstate New York: a qualitative interpretive description study.Frontiers in public health · 2026Article
- Prevalence and factors associated with sexual violence against adolescent girls in Brazil: results of the 2019 National Survey of School Health.Revista brasileira de epidemiologia = Brazilian journal of epidemiology · 2026Article
- Impulsivity and Early Initiation of Sexual Behaviors in Adolescents with Externalizing Disorders.Archives of sexual behavior · 2026Observational
- Effects of female caregiver communication and behavior on sexual behavior of South African adolescent girls and young women post-HIV/STI intervention.Children and youth services review · 2025Article
- Factors associated with early sexual onset and delaying sex in rural middle school youth.The Journal of rural health : official journal of the American Rural Health Association and the National Rural Health Care Association · 2025Article
- Substance Use and Risky Sexual Behavior Among Adolescents: A Cross-National Clustered Analysis of 35 European and North American Countries.International journal of sexual health : official journal of the World Association for Sexual Health · 2025Article
- Association between different types of smoking and first sexual behavior in adolescents: Survey data from South Korea.Tobacco induced diseases · 2025Article
- Cross-National Trends in Early Sexual Initiation Among 15-Year-Old Adolescents, 2002-2022.International journal of public health · 2025Article
- Investigating the Mediating Role of Mental Disorders in the Relationship Between Early Sexual Intercourse and Intentional Self-Harm: A Two-Step and Multivariable Mendelian Randomization Study.Brain and behavior · 2024Article
- Examining the mediating effect of real and cyber self-control on cyberbullying and health risk behaviors among secondary vocational students in China: a cross-sectional study.BMC public health · 2024Article
- [Factors Influencing Sexual Experiences in Adolescents Using a Random Forest Model: Secondary Data Analysis of the 2019~2021 Korea Youth Risk Behavior Web-based Survey Data].Journal of Korean Academy of Nursing · 2024Article
- Sex differences in the association of childhood sexual abuse severity with premarital sex among Chinese college students in Luzhou, China.BMC public health · 2024Article
- Article
- [Individual, family, and community factors associated with the use of emergency contraception by Brazilian adolescent students].Cadernos de saude publica · 2024Article
- Facilitators and barriers to contraception access and use for Hispanic American adolescent women: An integrative literature review.PLOS global public health · 2024Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
3 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundThe purpose of this study was to examine the role of low self-control as a mediator or moderator between early age at sexual debut and risky sexual behavior in young adulthood.
methodsData on 5734 male and female Add Health participants were used. Self-control (waves 1 & 3), age at sexual debut (wave 3) and risky sexual behavior (wave 4) were used in a structural equation modeling framework to assess the relationships of interest.
resultsApproximately 17% of respondents were < 15 years at first sexual intercourse. Among females only, both early age at first intercourse (Parent-report: z = 5.08, p < .001; Self-report: z = 2.05, p < .05) and low self-control at wave 3 (Parent-report: z = 2.30, p < .05; Self-report: z = 2.31, p < .05) mediated the relationship between low self-control at wave 1 and risky sexual behaviors in young adulthood. Similarly in the male-only model, both early age at first intercourse (Parent-report: z = 2.92, p < .01; Self-report: z = 3.04, p < .01) and low self-control at wave 3 (Parent-report: z = 1.99, p < .05; Self-report: z = 3.15, p < .01) mediated the relationship between low self-control and risky sexual behaviors in young adulthood. There was evidence of moderation in the male-only model (- 0.26, p < .01), such that lower impulsivity strengthened the relationship between early sex and risky sex.
conclusionsThis study confirms the role of executive functions in sexual behaviors and suggests that interventions aimed at improving self-control may be beneficial in reducing risky sexual behavior.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.