Chaste, Pure, and Demure

1
Chaste, Pure, and Demure

• Pledges of Sexual Abstinence, Religiosity, and
  Sexual Behaviors in Adolescent Romantic
  Relationships
• University of Tennessee
• Catherine M. Grello
• Peter T. Haugen
• Kathryn R. Wilson

2
Introduction/Purpose

• The Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity
  Reconciliation Act of 1996 designated over 68
  million annually for abstinence-only sexual
  education programs. Yet, empirical studies have
  found no or only a highly qualified relationship
  between adolescents participation in such
  programs and delay in transition to coitus
  (Bearman Bruckner, 1999 Wilcox, 1999 Wilcox,
  Rostosky, Comer-Wright, 2002). Factors which
  potentially qualify such a relationship include
  age of the adolescent and the number of peers in
  the adolescents social context who took the same
  pledge (Bearman and Bruckner, 1999).
• Sexual behaviors have been consistently found to
  be influenced by religiosity (Wilcox, Rostosky,
  Comer-Wright, 2002).

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Abstract

• Millions of tax dollars are spent annually on
  abstinence-only sexual education programs. These
  programs must adhere to strict federal guidelines
  to qualify for funding. A component of some
  programs, adolescents may be requested to make a
  public pledge of sexual abstinence. The efficacy
  of such programs is not clear. Religiosity has
  been consistently found to be related with a
  delay in sexual transition among adolescents.
  This study expands previous research by focusing
  on the possible association between participation
  in abstinence-only sexual education programs,
  sexual behaviors, and religiosity, in adolescent
  romantic dyads.
• We found that when both couple members pledge
  abstinence they are less likely to report having
  engaged in coitus and oral sex. Furthermore,
  most report engaging in fewer affectionate,
  intimate, and penetrative sexual behaviors with
  their partners than couples who did not pledge.
  For most, the effects of the pledge were
  moderated by religiosity. Age and gender
  differences revealed that pledging and
  religiosity predicted fewer sexual behaviors
  among females and late adolescents regardless of
  gender.

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Measures

• Pledge
• Ever make a pledge of sexual abstinence?
• Where did you pledge?
• Religiosity
• 4 items measuring religious beliefs, practices,
  and traditions (? .73).

• Sexual Behaviors
• Ever intercourse (lifetime and with current
  partner).
• Ever oral sex (lifetime and with current partner.
• 13 item frequency checklist of various sexual
  behaviors, scores for affectionate (? .85),
  intimate (? .86, and penetrative behaviors (?
  .81) with current partner.

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Methodology/Participants

• The data for this project comes from the Study of
  Tennessee Romantic Relationships (STARR) an
  NIHCHD funded project.
• 51 middle adolescent couples modal age ?15 and
  ?16.
• 94 late adolescent couples modal age ?18 and
  ?18.
• 90 of the sample was Caucasian and 9 was
  African American.

• Middle and late adolescents were examined
  separately because exploratory chi square
  revealed a 3-way interaction of age x pledge x
  sex (Likelihood ?2 8.891 probability .0308).

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Descriptive Religious Affiliation

• Middle Adolescents
• Baptist 53
• Catholic 5
• Protestant 12
• Jewish 0
• Church of Christ 11
• Other 11
• None 8

• Late Adolescents
• Baptist 46
• Catholic 5
• Protestant 21
• Jewish 1
• Church of Christ 2
• Other 16
• None 9

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Abstinence Pledge

• Middle Adolescent Couples
• Neither pledged 36
• She pledged 27
• He pledged 12
• Both pledged 25

• Late Adolescent Couples
• Neither pledged 48
• She pledged 23
• He pledged 11
• Both pledged 18

• Couples Intercourse
• Middle Adolescent Couple 38.5
• Late Adolescent Couples 61.7

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Couple sex x who pledgedMiddle Adolescents
Couple Sex Yes No
Count 9 10 w/in who pledged 47.4 52.6 Adj.
Residual 1.0 -1.0 Count 4 10 w/in who
pledged 28.6 71.4 Adj. Residual -.9 .9 Count 5
1 w/in who pledged 53.3 16.7 Adj.
Residual 2.4 -2.4 Count 2 11 w/in who
pledged 15.4 84.6 Adj. Residual -5.3 5.3
Neither Pledged She Pledged He Pledged They
Both Pledged
Who Pledged
?29.245, plt.026
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Couple sex x who pledgedLate Adolescents
Couple Sex Yes No
Count 37 8 w/in who pledged 82.2 17.8 Adj.
Residual 3.8 -3.8 Count 15 7 w/in who
pledged 68.2 31.8 Adj. Residual .6 -.6 Count 5
4 w/in who pledged 55.6 44.4 Adj.
Residual -.4 .4 Count 1 16 w/in who
pledged 5.9 94.1 Adj. Residual -5.3 5.3
Neither Pledged She Pledged He Pledged They
Both Pledged
Who Pledged
?231.162, plt.000
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Religiosity

• T-test of male partner and female partners
  religiosity revealed that females were
  significantly more religious than their male
  partners (p.006).
• When controlling for age, middle adolescent
  females did not significantly differ from their
  partners religiosity (p.174). However, late
  adolescent females continued to report higher
  levels of religiosity than their male partners
  (p.013).
• A categorical variable was created for high,
  moderate, and low religiosity. Males and females
  were examined separately.
• ?2 revealed no significant difference in her
  religious group and couple sex (F2.687, p.261)
  and his religious group and couple sex (F1.414,
  p.493) for middle adolescent couples.

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Couple sex x religiosityLate Adolescent Females
Couple Sex Yes No
Count 11 3 w/in couple sex 78.6 21.4 Adj.
Residual 1.4 -1.4 Count 32 8 w/in couple sex
80 20 Adj. Residual 3.0 -3.0 Count 15 24
w/in couple sex 38.5 61.5 Adj.
Residual -4.0 4.0
Low Religiosity Moderate Religiosity High
Religiosity
Religiosity
?216.361, plt.000
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Couple sex x religiosityLate Adolescent Males
Couple Sex Yes No
Count 25 6 w/in couple sex 80.6 19.4 Adj.
Residual 2.5 -2.6 Count 22 10 w/in couple sex
68.8 31.3 Adj. Residual 1.0 -1.0 Count 10 19
w/in couple sex 34.5 65.5 Adj.
Residual -3.7 3.7
Low Religiosity Moderate Religiosity High
Religiosity
Religiosity
?214.507, p.001
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Moderation Analyses
Pledge Religiosity Pledge X Religiosity
a b c
Couple Sexual Intercourse
Gender and age examined separately.
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Results of Moderated Regression Analysis
Variable ? ? Wald p ? ? Wald p age Pledge middle
-1.494 5.926 .015 -.159 .072 .789 late -1.6
61 12.778 .000 -2.312 17.733 .000 Religiosi
ty middle .147 2.929 .087 -.012
.024 .877 late .325 14.007 .000 .340 15.741
.000 Interaction middle .403
6.206 .013 -.011 .046 .830 late .168
2.875 .090 .247 20.145 .000
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Couple oral sex x pledge

• No significant differences were found for pledge
  or religiosity and the prediction of oral sex
  among middle adolescent females and males.

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Couple oral sex x who pledgedLate Adolescents
Couple Oral Sex Yes No
Count 17 19 w/in pledged 31.5 79.2 Adj.
Residual 3.9 -3.9 Count 37 5 w/in
pledged 68.5 20.8 Adj. Residual 3.9 -3.9 Count
6 15 w/in pledged 11.3 62.5 Adj.
Residual -4.7 4.7 Count 47 9
w/in pledged 88.7 37.5 Adj. Residual 4.7 -4.7
Yes Pledged Never Pledged
Her Ever Pledge
His Ever Pledge
Yes Pledged Never Pledged
Her pledge ?215.202, p.000
His pledge ?221.815, p.000
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Couple oral sex x religiosityLate Adolescent
Females
Couple Sex Yes No
Count 11 2 w/in oral sex 20.4 8.3 Adj.
Residual 1.3 -1.4 Count 27 4 w/in oral
sex 50 16.7 Adj. Residual 2.8 -2.8 Count 16 18
w/in oral sex 29.6 75.0 Adj. Residual -3.7 3.7
Low Religiosity Moderate Religiosity High
Religiosity
Religiosity
?213.936, plt.001
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Couple oral sex x religiosityLate Adolescent
Males
Couple Sex Yes No
Count 24 3 w/in oral sex 45.3 12.5 Adj.
Residual 2.8 -2.8 Count 20 6 w/in oral
sex 37.7 25.0 Adj. Residual 1.1 -1.1 Count 9 15
w/in oral sex 17.0 62.5 Adj.
Residual -4.0 4.0
Low Religiosity Moderate Religiosity High
Religiosity
Religiosity
?216.838, plt.000
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Frequency of sexual behaviors

• A series of MANOVAs were performed to assess
  differences among pledge groups, religiosity, and
  frequency of affectionate (i.e. kissing, holding
  hands), intimate (i.e. intimate touching w/w/o
  clothes), and penetrative behaviors (i.e. oral
  sex, intercourse) during the previous 30 days.
• For middle adolescent males and females, no
  significant differences were found for pledge or
  religiosity and frequency of affectionate,
  intimate, or penetrative sexual behaviors.

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• For late adolescent females, pledge (F(9,163)
  3.401, p.001) and religiosity (F(6,134) 2.380,
  p.032) were significant. Specifically, late
  adolescent females who pledge sexual abstinence
  participate in fewer affectionate (F(3, 92)
  4.924, p.004), intimate (F(3,92) 9.947,
  p.000), and penetrative behaviors (F(3,92)
  4.018, p.011) when compared to females who do
  not pledge. Females with high religiosity report
  fewer affectionate behaviors (F(3,92)4.387,
  p.016) than those with low or moderate levels of
  religiosity.
• For late adolescent males, pledge
  (F(9,163)2.740, p.005) was significant. Late
  adolescent males who pledge sexual abstinence
  engage in fewer affectionate (F(3, 92) 4.775,
  p.004), intimate (F(3,92) 3.248, p.027), and
  penetrative behaviors (F(3,92) 5.311, p.002)
  when they are compared to males who do not pledge.

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Discussion

• Pledges of sexual abstinence were more powerful
  couples in which both partners have pledged. When
  both members pledged the couple was less likely
  to have engaged in sexual intercourse or oral sex
  than when one partner or no one pledged.
• Late adolescents who reported high levels of
  religiosity were less likely to engage in
  intercourse or oral sex with their current
  partner than those with low or moderate levels of
  religiosity.
• The effect of pledging was enhanced by strong
  religious conviction in most adolescents in this
  sample. Religiosity moderated the power of the
  pledge for middle adolescent females and late
  adolescent males. Pledge and religiosity were
  both significant for late adolescent females
  however they worked independently in predicting
  coitus and oral sex.

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• Late adolescents who pledged sexual abstinence
  reported engaging in fewer affectionate,
  intimate, and penetrative sexual behaviors when
  they were compared to their non-pledging peers.
• Our results may seem contradictory to Bearman and
  Bruckner (1999) who found the pledge more
  effective in delaying sexual transition for
  younger adolescents. However, Bearman and
  Bruckner (1999) also found the pledge to be less
  effective when the pledge is ubiquitous. In this
  sample, pledging sexual abstinence is fairly
  common. The ubiquity of the pledge explains our
  findings for middle adolescents. However,
  perhaps most interesting is the effect of pledges
  of abstinence among the late adolescent couples
  in this sample for some, the power of the pledge
  is strengthened by religiosity. We suggest that
  the pledge itself may serve as a tangible symbol
  of an adolescents internalized beliefs and
  attitudes toward premarital sexuality. But,
  those that identify this symbolic aspect of the
  pledge, are of course in the minority.