THE TRANSITION TO 1ST INTERCOURSE AMONG RACIALLY AND CULTURALLY DIVERSE YOUTH

This study explored the transition to first sexual intercourse among Chicano, Latino, black, and white teens. A logistic regression model was used to estimate the effect of distal and proximate variables on that transition. It was hypothesized that as a teen ages she or he would move from being more influenced by proximate factors to being more influenced by the distal world of peers and community. This hypothesis was partially confirmed, but there were significant differences between males and females, and ethnic/cultural groups. It was also suggested that age of first intercourse is not a simple process but rather there is a compelling need to perform separate analysis by race and gender. In particular, factors influencing the transition to intercourse for Chicano and Latino subgroups of males and females were quite unique.