Author Name Cheng, Yen-hsin Graduate Program Sociology Degree Doctor of Philosophy Document Type Dissertation Date of Defense 2008-06-20 Committee Nancy S. Landale, Committee Chair Alan Booth, Committee Member Michelle L. Frisco, Committee Member Susan McHale, Committee Member Availability Restricted Title Weight Status and Sexuality Development from Adolescence to Young Adulthood Abstract Adolescent overweight has become a major public health issue in the U.S. Most research on the consequences of adolescent overweight focuses mainly on physical and psychological well-being and some on social adjustments. Amidst all these studies, a relatively under-explored area is the sexual experiences of overweight adolescents. In addition to overweight teens, this study also investigated the development of underweight youth. This study aimed to understand the sexuality development of youth by weight status from adolescence to young adulthood. The current study utilized the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health (Add Health) data. This study first asked whether adolescents of different weight statuses have different timing of sex debut. The results showed that underweight and overweight youth experience significantly later first sexual intercourse than normal weight teens. Social relationships play an important role in explaining why weight status delays the transition to first sex. When developmental stages were taken into account, different processes emerged. The status of underweight only delays sex debut in the younger teen ages, not in the older teen ages. The second research question tapped into the development and predictors of sexual relationship trajectories. Four distinct types of sexual trajectories were identified: a high-risk trajectory, a constant-one-partner trajectory, a progression-to-one-partner trajectory, and a never-had-sex trajectory. Overweight adolescents are less likely to have a developmental trajectory that involves any level of sexual activity than to have the never-had-sex trajectory. These negative associations are once again explained by the social relationship characteristics of adolescents. The last research question investigated the role of weight status and sexual relationship trajectories in affecting intimate partner physical violence, sexual coercion, and psychological adjustment in young adulthood. The findings revealed that weight status in adolescence increases the likelihood of experiencing violence in a recent sexual relationship and for having severe depression during early adulthood. Sexual relationship trajectories were only found to be associated with experiencing physical violence by an intimate partner, but not with forced sex or severe psychological problems. Finally, a close mother-child relationship and a positive family climate are associated with increased odds of experiencing severe depression among underweight and overweight youth.
Keywords adolescent overweight overweight and sexual debut overweight and sexual development trajectory overweight and intimate partner violence overweight and sexual coercion overweight and depression Files There is 1 file that has been restricted at the author's request.