Risky Sexual Behavior and African-American Youth : What Is the Role of Family Structure?

This paper estimates the impact of family structure and family context on risky sexual behavior among African-Americans. The research on adolescent sexual behavior finds that youth are more likely to engage in sexual activity at an earlier age and have more partners when they are not raised in two-parent households. This is a concern for African-Americans because they are less likely to live in two-parent families and are also more likely to be sexually active. Using the National Longitudinal Survey of Adolescent Health, we find that adolescents in cohabitating and step-parent households are more likely to engage in sexual activity and have more partners, compared to their counterparts in two-parent households. We also find differential effects by gender, with family structure and context having a stronger effect on young females. This is an important result because it shows the negative effects of family disruptions in the African-American community