Understanding the "Why" for High-Risk Behavior: Adolescent Girls' Motivations for Sex.
Dianne Morrison-Beedy, Linsey Grove, Ming Ji and 1 others
PMID 28784584WHAT IT FOUND
Adolescent girls most often reported sex for intimacy and enhancement, a motive tied to risk taking.
Girls with depression or substance use had stronger coping, partner approval, peer pressure, and self-affirmation motives.
Key findings
01Across all participants, the highest mean sex motive scores were for intimacy and enhancement, while peer pressure, partner approval, self-affirmation, and coping were endorsed less.
02Girls with depressive symptoms had higher peer pressure and partner approval motives.
03Girls who used drugs or had at least one drink per week had higher coping motives.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for RNs
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What it does not show
Participants were recruited from urban community centers in upstate New York, so findings may not apply to other groups. The motives were self-reported at baseline, so they may not capture implicit motivations or motives in different relationship contexts. This analysis did not test whether addressing these motives reduces sexual risk or improves intervention outcomes. Convenience sampling limits generalizability.
Declared interests
The authors report no real or perceived vested interests that could be construed as a conflict of interest.
The easy way to misread this
Do not conclude that screening for these motives or tailoring conversations has been shown to reduce sexual risk. This analysis used baseline self-report and did not test intervention effects.