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Learning Objective 1: Describe the heterosocial behaviors of middle school African Americn girls.
Learning Objective 2: Discuss the relationship between heterosocial behaviors and intimate sexual behaviors among middle school African American girls.
Methods: A cross-sectional design was employed, and 157 young girls participated in this analysis of baseline data from a randomized clinical trial (5RO1HD039757-05). The girls drawn from five middle schools located in Western Pennsylvania completed two surveys. The Heterosocial Behavior Questionnaire (Westney, Jenkins, & Benjamin, 1983; modified by Doswell, 1999) assessed the social contexts in which heterosexual interactions occur and six heterosocial behaviors; Sexual Behavior Inventory ( Treboux & Busch-Rossnagel, 1995; modified by Doswell, Braxter, Taylor, & Ren, 2008) documented self-reported intimate sexual behaviors. Descriptive statistics as well as linear regression models were generated with heterosocial behaviors serving as the predictor variable.
Results: A majority of the girls had spent time with a group of boys and girls when no adults were around. Hugging was the most prevalent heterosocial behavior; kissing was the most prevalent intimate sexual behavior. Social contexts (p<.001) and heterosocial behaviors (p<.001) were both significant predictors.
Conclusion: Interventions designed to delay/prevent engagement in early intimate sexual behaviors among early teen African American girls should assess heterosocial behaviors.