Hispanic teenagers’ low level of acculturation to U.S. society provides a “significant protective factor” against their engaging in sexual intercourse during adolescence, according to a study published in this month’s Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine.
An abstract of “Acculturation as a Predictor of the Onset of Sexual Intercourse Among Hispanic and White Teens” is available online from Archives of Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine.
The study examines survey data from 7,270 Hispanic or white non-Hispanic adolescents in 7th to 12th grades who took part in a sexual-abstinence program in Arizona. On average, Hispanic youths were at a greater risk of engaging in sexual intercourse than their non-Hispanic white counterparts. But Hispanic teenagers who hadn’t been highly acculturated were less likely to have done so.
