Premarital Attitudes and Norms as Predictors of the Intention to Engage in Sexual Behaviors Among African-American Middle School Girls

Willa Doswell, PhD, RN, FAAN¹, Betty J. Braxter, RN, PhD¹, Yookyung Kim, PhD², and Hyung-joo Kang, MS³. (1) School of Nursing, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA, USA, (2) Department of Health and Community Systems, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA, USA, (3) Health Promotion and Development, University of Pittsburgh School of Nursing, Pittsburgh, PA, USA

The Theory of Reasoned Action (TRA) (Fishbein & Ajzen, 1975) postulates thatattitudes and norms co-predict the intention to engage in a behavior. Adolescent sexual behavior remains a problem among African-American girls. Objectives: The aims of this study were to: 1.) describe the premarital attitudes, subjective norms and intentions of African-American girls to engage in intimate sexual behaviors (e.g., French kissing, light petting, heavy petting, and sexual intercourse, 2.) assess the relationships among constructs in the TRA, and 3. ) evaluate premarital attitudes and subjective norms as predictors of the intention to engage in intimate sexual behaviors. Methods: Baseline data from “A Randomized Controlled Trial of the NIA Intervention (RO1HD39757-01)” were analyzed. African-American girls (n=204) age 10.1-14.1 years (mean age 12.4, SD 0.89) were recruited from five middle schools in a mid-sized northeastern city. Treboux’s (1995) Premarital Attitude and Subjective Norm (mother, father, and peer) Scales in addition to the Doswell-Braxter (1999) Intention of Sexual Behavior Scale were used to assess the three TRA constructs. Statistical Analysis. Descriptive statistics and correlation analysis were conducted. Multiple regression models were also generated. Results: Girls were unsure about their premarital attitudes, peer norms, and intention to engage in intimate sexual behaviors. However, girls perceived that their mother/father would disapprove of engaging in any type of intimate sexual behavior. Each TRA construct was significantly correlated with the other. Premarital attitude was most strongly correlated with intention (r=.81, p=.001). The best model for predicting intention included premarital attitude (Beta=.749, p<.001) and peer norm (Beta=.134, p=.004) with 81.7% of the variability explained by the predictors. Conclusion/Implications: Interventions designed to delay African-American middle school girls’ intention to engage in intimate sexual behaviors must target premarital attitudes.

Learning Objective #1: Describe African-American middle school girls' premarital attitudes, norms, and intention to engage in intimate sexual behaviors.
Learning Objective #2: Discuss the validity of African-American middle school girls' premarital attitudes and norms as predictors of intention to engage in intimate sexual behaviors.