Non-romantic Sexual Behaviors in Late Adolescence. Catherine M. Grello, Peter T. Haugen, Deborah P. Welsh, Melinda S. Harper University of Tennessee Today I will discuss the association of casual sex attitudes, non-romantic sexual behaviors and emotional functioning in late adolescence. This presentation is a collaborative effort between me, Peter Haugen, Deborah Welsh, and Melinda Harper.

Adolescent Sex Behavior 60-70% report coital transition by HS graduation. 4 million diagnosed annually with STDs. Adolescent sex behavior is associated with: Poor emotional functioning. School failure. Delinquency. According to national surveys, approximately 60-70% of adolescents will transition to sexual intercourse by the time they graduate high school (Guttmacher, 2002a) and about 4 million adolescents are diagnosed with a sexually transmitted disease annually (Guttmacher, 2002b). In addition to the obvious health risks, adolescent sexual behavior has been found associated with poor emotional functioning and a host of problem behaviors such as school failure and delinquency. (Donavan & Jessor, 1985; Donavan, Jessor, & Costa, 1988).

Casual Sex Sexual behavior (oral sex, anal sex, and/or intercourse) that is not with a romantic partner. Friend, acquaintance, or stranger. To date research on adolescent sexual behavior while informative and valuable does have some limitations. First, adolescent sexual research frequently examines behavior on the presence or absence of vaginal intercourse. This limitation does not consider other genital sexual behaviors such as oral and anal sex. Like vaginal intercourse, these behaviors may pose serious health risks and may also be associated with problematic functioning; however, they are rarely examined. Secondly, research tends to ignore the context of the sexual relationship. For example, adolescents can engage in sexual behaviors within a committed relationship or they can participate in sexual behaviors with a partner to whom they are not emotionally involved. Again this limitation may obscure the association between sexual behavior and functioning. It is possible that for some adolescents sexual behavior may be an activity of a close relationship with few if any detrimental effects and for others it may be symptomatic of more pervasive difficulties. In this paper, we will distinguish between romantic sex, sex within the context of a romance and casual sex, sexual behavior with a partner who the respondent does not consider romantic. The casual sex partner may be a close friend, an acquaintance, or even a stranger.

Casual sex 1/3 transition to sex in a non-romantic context. 70-85% of sexually experienced adolescents report at least 1 non-romantic sexual encounter. Casual sex encounters are quite common during adolescence. When examining adolescent sexual behavior with a nationally representative sample of more than 2300 adolescents, we found, as many as 1/3 of adolescents had their first intercourse experience with someone other then a romantic partner. In addition, we found that 70-85% of sexually experienced adolescents age 12-21 reported having engaged in intercourse with at least one non-romantic partner in their life time (Grello, Welsh, Harper, & Dickson, in press). Similarly, Shirley Feldman and her colleagues found 70% of their college student sample reported having engaged in coitus with partners they did not consider as romantic (Feldman, Turner, Arajuo, 1999).

Attitudes Becoming more permissive in a romance, less acceptable in casual relations. Double standard. Males rewarded. Females punished. Attitudes have been found to correlate with behavior. More than 40 years ago, Ira Riess identified a phenomenon known as the sexual double standard. The sexual double standard is a socially constructed phenomenon that expresses disapproval of female sexual activity while simultaneously rewarding sexual behaviors for males (Reiss, 1960). Although sexual attitudes towards premarital sex appear to be more permissive in romantic relationships, the double standard continues to flourish. While men are rewarded with increased popularity and social status for their sexual adventures, females risk tarnishing their reputation and social isolation (Milhausen & Herold, 1999). Furthermore, when sexual norms are violated, females more likely to experience more negative affect than males when they violate sexual norms (Oliver & Hyde, 1993).

Problem behaviors and casual sex Problem behaviors (Jessor & Jessor, 198*) and poor emotional functioning precede transition to intercourse in a casual sex encounter. More specifically, we have found in previous work with casual sex behavior, that depressive symptomatology, delinquent behaviors, and victimization exist prior to first intercourse, and adolescents in these groups are more likely to transition to first intercourse in a casual sex encounter (Grello, Welsh, Harper, & Dickson, in press).

Hypothesis Casual sex behavior will mediate the relationship between casual sex attitudes and depressive symptoms. Given the prevalence of casual sex behaviors among sexually active late adolescents, our main objective in this study is to disentangle casual sexual behavior and romantic sexual behavior to better understand the relationship between sexual behavior and emotional functioning. In addition, we want to explore the association of attitudes towards casual sex, casual sex behavior, and depressive symptoms. Specifically, we hypothesize that casual sex, but not romantic sex will be associated with depressive symptoms. We also expect that those who engage in casual sex behaviors will have more permissive attitudes towards casual sex than those who engage in sex only on romantic relationships or are still virgins. And finally, we will examine these constructs together in a mediation model where we expect that casual sex behaviors will mediate the relationship between attitudes towards casual sex and depressive symptoms.

Sample 387 Undergraduate students. 37% male, 63% female. 82% 18-19, 18% 20-21. 89% Caucasian, 6% African American, 5% other. Predominantly Christian. 7.8% Sexual minority. Participants were a sample of 387 undergraduate students enrolled in an introductory psychology course at a large public university in the southeastern United States. The sample was comprised of 37% males and 63% females. Eighty-two percent of the participants were between the ages of 18-19 and 18% were between the ages of 20-21. Participants were 89% Caucasian, 5.9% African American, 5% other. They were predominantly Christian; 34% identified themselves as Baptist, 24% Protestant, 17% Catholic, 5% Church of Christ, 11% other, 8% reported no religious affiliation and less then 1% were Jewish. 7.8% of the sample (8.5% of males and 7.3% females) reported engaging in sexual behaviors with someone of the same gender. Because casual sexual behavior was conceptualized as oral sex, anal sex, or intercourse with someone that was not considered to be a romantic partner we included these participants in our analyses.

Measures Romantic and casual sex behaviors. Have you ever had sex (that is, oral sex, anal sex, or sexual intercourse) with a non-romantic partner (that is, casual sex)? Casual sex attitudes (Simpson & Gangestad 1991). Sex without love is OK. I can imagine myself being comfortable and enjoying casual sex with different partners. I would have to be closely attached to someone (both emotionally and psychologically) before I could feel comfortable and fully enjoy having sex with him or her. (alpha = .81) Center of Epidemiological Study of Depression (CES-D; Radloff, 1977) (alpha = 93). Participants were asked about their casual sexual experiences. In this paper, we focus on this question: Have you ever had sex (that is, oral sex, anal sex, or sexual intercourse) with a non-romantic partner (that is, casual sex)? To measure attitudes towards casual sex, we used 3 items of Simpson & Gangestad’s Sociosexuality scale. Items were rated from 0-9. The items were as follows. Sex without love is OK. I can imagine myself being comfortable and enjoying casual sex with different partners. I would have to be closely attached to someone (both emotionally and psychologically) before I could feel comfortable and fully enjoy having sex with him or her. And finally, to measure depressive symptoms, participants completed the CES-D. The CES-D is a widely used 20-item Likart-type scale used to assess depressive symptoms that correlates with clinical rating of severity of depression and the DSM. Scores range from 0-60. Higher scores indicating more depressive symptoms.

Sexual Behaviors X Gender (N=387) Percentage Surprisingly, our findings revealed no gender differences in the reports of sexual activity among males and females. In this sample, 57% of males and 62% of females reported having engaged in intercourse. 74% of males and 75% of females reported having had oral sex.

Sexual Status X Gender (N=387) Percentage Participants were classified according to their sexual status. Those who reported having never engaged in oral sex, anal sex, or intercourse were classified as virgins. Those who reported sexual behaviors with romantic partners but had never engaged in sexual behaviors with a non-romantic partner, were classified as romantic sex only. Participants who reported that they had engaged in oral sex, anal sex, or intercourse with casual partners were classified as casual sex. Of the male participants, 23% were virgins, 32% reported romantic sexual behaviors only, and 44% reported having engaged in at least one casual sex encounter. For females, 22% were virgins, 39% reported only romantic sexual experiences, and 39% of females reported having had at least one casual sex experience. There were no statistically significant gender differences in sexual status. As you can see from this graph, the casual sex group is the largest group. Engaging in sexual behaviors with non-romantic partners was found to be relatively common in this sample.

CES-D X Sexual Status X Gender (N=387) CES-D Means First we performed some preliminary analyses to examine the relationship between sexual status and depressive symptoms. To examine gender differences, we first performed a 2 (gender) x 3 (sexual status group) analysis of variance on the dependent variable CES-D. Only the interaction of gender and sexual status was significant. The interaction revealed that males who reported having engaged in casual sex endorsed the fewest depressive symptoms, whereas females who reported casual sex experienced the most symptoms. We found this finding especially interesting, casual sex appears to be associated with elevated depressive symptoms in females but not in males. In fact, the most depressed females and the least depressed males were the participants most likely to be engaging in casual sex. These gender differences are also consistent with findings form our previous study examining younger adolescents. It should also be noted that like our previous findings, those in the romantic sex only group did not significantly differ from virgins. F (2,381) = 3.829, p = .023

Sexual Status X Attitudes (N = 387) Attitudes Means Next, we examined the relationship between sexual status and attitudes towards casual sex by performing a 2 (gender) x 3 (sexual status group) analysis of variance on the dependent variable attitudes towards casual sex. Sexual status group was significant. As you can see, permissive attitudes increase with sexual status. F (2, 381) = 62.860, p = .000

Gender X Attitudes (N = 387) Attitudes Means Gender was also significant. Males were found to endorse significantly more permissive attitudes towards casual sex than females. The interaction was not significant. F (2, 381) = 29.548, p = .000

Mediation Model Casual Sex Attitudes Casual Sex Behavior Depressive Symptoms For males casual sex attitudes significantly predicted casual sex behavior. However, casual sex behavior failed to mediate the relationship between attitudes and depressive symptoms for males. For females, casual sex behavior mediates the relationship between attitudes towards casual sex and symptoms of depression. To examine whether casual sex behavior serves as a mediator of the relationship between sexual attitudes and depressive symptoms, we conducted the following analyses as per the guidelines outlined by MacKinnon. The MacKinnon method is similar to the method described by Baron and Kenny (1986); however it is considered to have a more accurate Type I error rate and greater statistical power (MacKinnon et al., 2002). MacKinnon stipulates that a mediation model is supported if there are significant associations between: (a) a predictor and mediator (attitudes and behavior), and (b) a mediator and outcome (behavior and depressive symptoms); however (a) a predictor and outcome (attitudes and depressive symptoms) does not have to be statistically significant as long as the association between the predictor and outcome is significantly changed when the mediator is controlled (MacKinnon et al. 2002). If a full mediation model exists, then the magnitude of the direct effect between predictor and outcome should become zero. If a partially mediated model exists, then the direct effect will decrease in absolute size but not become zero. Because of the gender differences in our preliminary analyses, we examined males and females separately. For males the first regression was significant, attitudes towards casual sex predicted engaging in casual sex. However, casual sex behaviors failed to mediate the relationship between casual sex attitudes and symptoms of depression in the second regression. For females, regression analyses demonstrated that (a) casual sex attitudes predicted casual sex behavior. Next we regressed CES-D scores onto both the predictor (casual sex attitudes) and the mediator (casual sex behavior). Depressive symptoms were found to be significantly associated with the mediator, casual sex behavior. Furthermore, the association between depressive symptoms and attitudes remained statistically significant when controlling the mediator (casual sex behavior) satisfying the criteria for mediation. A sobel test was then performed to examine the magnitude of the direct effect between casual sex behavior and depressive symptoms. The sobel test was significant, verifying full mediation. For females, casual sex behavior mediates the relationship between attitudes towards casual sex and symptoms of depression.

Conclusions Casual sex behavior was associated with higher levels of depressive symptoms for females. Casual sex behavior was associated with lower levels of depressive symptoms for males. These findings in conjunction with our previous work examining the temporal relationship between depressive symptoms and casual sex, suggest a general pattern in which attitudes towards casual sex lead to casual sex behavior in both males and females. In this study, we were able to both confirm this relationship and extend it to include the examination of gender. We found that casual sex behavior was associated with higher levels of depressive symptoms for females, while it was associated with lower levels of depressive symptoms, for males. Evolutionary explanations of differences between men and women in their sexual behaviors offer parsimonious descriptions of the relationship between depressive symptomotology and casual sex behavior. However, according to evolutionary theorists, we should not expect such explanations to account for the individual’s interpretation of this relationship. Instead, we turn to a social constructionist perspective to more fully explicate the experience reported by the adolescents in this study, in the form of attitudes towards casual sex.

Conclusions Increased permissive attitudes towards casual sex was associated with increased casual sex behavior. Males endorsed more permissive attitudes towards casual sex than females. Not surprisingly, we found that increased permissive attitudes towards casual sex were associated with increased casual sex behavior. Attitudes and behavior are often associated. We also found that male participants endorsed more permissive attitudes towards casual sex than females, this may provide evidence that the double standard continues. In this study, attitudes towards casual sex were operationalized as personal beliefs; future research should examine perceptions of social acceptability as well to further verify perceptions of the double standard.

Conclusions Casual sex behavior mediates the relationship between attitudes towards casual sex and depressive symptoms in females, but not males. Casual sex behavior mediates the relationship between attitudes towards casual sex and depressive symptoms in females, but not males. Thus for females, just having permissive attitudes towards casual sex does not necessarily predict depressive symptoms. This study indicates that it is engaging in casual sex behavior that links attitudes and depressive symptoms. Future research should utilize longitudinal data to further elaborate this linkage between attitudes towards casual sex, casual sex behavior, and depressive symptoms in order to more fully understand the specific nature of this relationship. These data beg the question whether depressed females are engaging in casual sex in a misguided effort to feel better or if they experience increases in depressive symptoms as a result of guilt or regret for violating social norms. Although the answer to this question is certainly beyond the scope of the data collected in this study, a great deal of research attests to the prevalence of images of promiscuous males and females in the media. However, our data suggests that the power and status which popular media accords these promiscuous characters is a poisoned apple for adolescent girls. Holding such permissive attitudes will likely lead to permissive behavior, which in these girls, causes an increase in their depressive symptomatology. If they enjoy any of the promised power and status, it seems to not be worth the negative consequences.