This study examined individual and familial influences on Black female adolescents' (N = 1426) sexual pleasure expectancies, sexual guilt, and age of sexual debut using data from the National Longitudinal Study on Adolescent to Adult Health. Results indicated significant differences between Black female adolescents that were sexually active and…

Girls who experience earlier pubertal timing relative to peers also exhibit earlier timing of sexual intercourse and more unstable sexual relationships. Although pubertal development initiates feelings of physical desire, the transition into romantic and sexual relationships involves complex biological and social processes contributing both to…

To highlight individual and neighborhood interactions in the risk of adolescent substance use, this study examined the moderating role of neighborhood disadvantage on the relationship between pubertal development and adolescent girls' substance use. Drawing on the contextual amplification hypothesis, it was hypothesized that the effect of pubertal…

This article contributes new evidence on the associations among immigrant generation, gender, and sexual risk behavior among Latino adolescents in the United States. Longitudinal data from 3,272 Latino adolescents (grades 7-12) who participated in the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health (Add Health) were examined for evidence of the…

Prior research has indicated that pubertal development and peer associations are important determinants of adolescent smoking behavior. However, more remains to be learned about "why" these variables matter or how they may be related to one another in ways that lead to the initiation of smoking. Using contractual data from the National…

This study extends previous research on the social psychological implications of pubertal timing to education by applying a life course framework to data from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health and from the Adolescent Health and Academic Achievement Study. Early pubertal timing, which has previously been associated with major…

Analysis of National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health data on 5,477 girls attending mixed-sex secondary schools found that early puberty and physical development that was advanced relative to age were related most strongly to "party" deviance (drinking, smoking, disorderly conduct), but also to minor and serious delinquency.…