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Trajectories of Annual Number of Sexual Partners from Adolescence to Emerging Adulthood: Individual and Family Predictors

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Abstract

Adolescent sexual development is not the same across the board, and can be seen as both normative as well as risky behavior, depending on factors such as age of onset and number of partners. This longitudinal study identified developmental trajectories of annual number of sexual partners from adolescence to emerging adulthood and their antecedents. From the ages of 16–22, 332 participants (60.8 % females) annually reported their number of sexual partners. Measures of adolescent and family characteristics taken at ages 13–15 were used as predictors. Group-based modeling identified four trajectory groups: the abstainers group (9.1 %), low-increasing group (30.6 %), medium-increasing group (53.0 %), and multiple-partners group (7.3 %). Multinomial logistical regressions indicated that better social competence increased chances of belonging to the multiple-partners group as compared to the abstainers and low-increasing groups, and more substance use predicted membership in the multiple-partners group as compared to the abstainers group. Moreover, females were overrepresented in the low-increasing and medium-increasing groups. These results imply a greater diversity in sexual development than proposed in the literature and highlight the importance of identifying the strengths and competencies associated with healthy sexual development along with the early risk factors.

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Authors’ Contributions

This research was conducted as part of ER’s doctoral dissertation. ER performed the statistical analysis, interpreted the data, and drafted the manuscript. FP conceived of the study, its design, its coordination, participated in the interpretation of the data and helped to draft the manuscript. MAB participated in the interpretation of the data and helped to draft the manuscript. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.

Funding

This research was supported by research grants from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada and the Fonds Québécois pour la Recherche sur la Société et la Culture for the second author. The first author received fundings from the Fonds Québécois pour la recherche sur la Société et Culture.

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  1. Université du Québec à Montréal, 100 Sherbrooke West, Québec, Canada, H2X 3P2

    Erika Rossi, François Poulin & Marie-Aude Boislard

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  1. Erika Rossi
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  2. François Poulin
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  3. Marie-Aude Boislard
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Correspondence to François Poulin.

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Rossi, E., Poulin, F. & Boislard, MA. Trajectories of Annual Number of Sexual Partners from Adolescence to Emerging Adulthood: Individual and Family Predictors. J Youth Adolescence 46, 995–1008 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10964-016-0571-6

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