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Behavioral Sciences
Special Issues
Adolescent Romantic Relationships and Sex: Development and Behavior
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Adolescent Romantic Relationships and Sex: Development and Behavior

A special issue of Behavioral Sciences (ISSN 2076-328X).

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (1 December 2015) | Viewed by 54395

Special Issue Editor

Dr. Melanie Zimmer-Gembeck

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Griffith University, School of Applied Psychology and the Menzies Health Institute of Queensland, Australia
Interests: dating and romantic relationships; sexual behaviour; sexuality; peer relationships; stress; coping; resilience; emotion regulation; autonomy

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

I invite you to submit a review or an empirical paper for the above-described Special Issue of Behavioral Sciences.

Adolescence and the early years of adulthood are age periods when developing identity and life goals are prominent tasks (Arnett, 2000; Zimmer-Gembeck & Collins, 2003), and new experiences and exploration of diverse interests are common behaviors. This exploration applies to romantic and sexual development. There has been much research in recent years that has considered the exploration and development of dating and romantic behavior among adolescents (e.g., Connolly, Furman, & Konarski, 2000). There has also been an increasing focus on sexual behavior and sexual development, with regard to both the risks and the benefits (e.g., Boislard & Poulin, 2011; Zimmer-Gembeck & Helfand, 2008). Moreover, there has been a handful of investigations addressing romantic and sexual behavior or development simultaneously (Giordano, Manning, & Longmore, 2010; Zimmer-Gembeck, 2013).

Given that Behavioral Sciences is an open access journal that is accessible to a wide range of individuals, the primary aim of this Special Issue is to present reviews of research on what is known about dating, romantic relationships, sexuality, and/or sexual behavior in a form that would be helpful to practitioners, policymakers, teachers, and others who work on issues related to adolescents and young adults or who work with them. However, I also very much welcome submissions reporting innovative research on the development of romance, sexual behavior, and/or sexuality during adolescence or the earliest years of adulthood, especially research that can address both romance and sex.

Melanie Zimmer-Gembeck
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Behavioral Sciences is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2200 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Published Papers (4 papers)

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Research

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520 KiB  
Article
Young Love: Romantic Concerns and Associated Mental Health Issues among Adolescent Help-Seekers
by Megan Price, Leanne Hides, Wendell Cockshaw, Aleksandra A. Staneva and Stoyan R. Stoyanov
Behav. Sci. 2016, 6(2), 9; https://doi.org/10.3390/bs6020009 - 06 May 2016
Cited by 39 | Viewed by 17616
Abstract
Over 50% of young people have dated by age 15. While romantic relationship concerns are a major reason for adolescent help-seeking from counselling services, we have a limited understanding of what types of relationship issues are most strongly related to mental health issues [...] Read more.
Over 50% of young people have dated by age 15. While romantic relationship concerns are a major reason for adolescent help-seeking from counselling services, we have a limited understanding of what types of relationship issues are most strongly related to mental health issues and suicide risk. This paper used records of 4019 counselling sessions with adolescents (10–18 years) seeking help from a national youth counselling service for a romantic relationship concern to: (i) explore what types and stage (pre, during, post) of romantic concerns adolescents seek help for; (ii) how they are associated with mental health problems, self-harm and suicide risk; and (iii) whether these associations differ by age and gender. In line with developmental-contextual theory, results suggest that concerns about the initiation of relationships are common in early adolescence, while concerns about maintaining and repairing relationships increase with age. Relationship breakups were the most common concern for both male and female adolescents and for all age groups (early, mid, late adolescence). Data relating to a range of mental health issues were available for approximately half of the sample. Post-relationship concerns (including breakups) were also more likely than pre- or during-relationship concerns to be associated with concurrent mental health issues (36.8%), self-harm (22.6%) and suicide (9.9%). Results draw on a staged developmental theory of adolescent romantic relationships to provide a comprehensive assessment of relationship stressors, highlighting post-relationship as a particularly vulnerable time for all stages of adolescence. These findings contribute to the development of targeted intervention and support programs. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Adolescent Romantic Relationships and Sex: Development and Behavior)
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223 KiB  
Article
A Longitudinal Study of Sexual Entitlement and Self-Efficacy among Young Women and Men: Gender Differences and Associations with Age and Sexual Experience
by Gillian Hewitt-Stubbs, Melanie J. Zimmer-Gembeck, Shawna Mastro and Marie-Aude Boislard
Behav. Sci. 2016, 6(1), 4; https://doi.org/10.3390/bs6010004 - 18 Jan 2016
Cited by 16 | Viewed by 7736
Abstract
Many scholars have called for an increased focus on positive aspects of sexual health and sexuality. Using a longitudinal design with two assessments, we investigated patterns of entitlement to sexual partner pleasure and self-efficacy to achieve sexual pleasure among 295 young men and [...] Read more.
Many scholars have called for an increased focus on positive aspects of sexual health and sexuality. Using a longitudinal design with two assessments, we investigated patterns of entitlement to sexual partner pleasure and self-efficacy to achieve sexual pleasure among 295 young men and women aged 17–25 years attending one Australian university. We also tested whether entitlement and efficacy differed by gender, and hypothesized that entitlement and efficacy would be higher in older participants and those with more sexual experience. A sense of entitlement to sexual partner pleasure increased significantly over the year of the study, whereas, on average, there was no change in self-efficacy over time. At Time 1 (T1), young women reported more entitlement than young men. Age was positively associated with T1 entitlement, and experience with a wider range of partnered sexual behaviors was concurrently associated with more entitlement and efficacy and was also associated with increased entitlement to partner pleasure and increased self-efficacy in achieving sexual pleasure at T2 relative to T1. A group with the least amount of sexual experience was particularly low in entitlement and efficacy when compared to groups with a history of coital experience. There was no evidence that any association differed between young men and young women. Limitations of the study include a sample of predominantly middle class, Caucasian students at one university and the possibility that students more interested in sex and relationships, and with more sexual experience, chose to participate. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Adolescent Romantic Relationships and Sex: Development and Behavior)

Review

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288 KiB  
Review
Sexuality (and Lack Thereof) in Adolescence and Early Adulthood: A Review of the Literature
by Marie-Aude Boislard, Daphne Van de Bongardt and Martin Blais
Behav. Sci. 2016, 6(1), 8; https://doi.org/10.3390/bs6010008 - 17 Mar 2016
Cited by 91 | Viewed by 21040
Abstract
Youth sexuality has been primarily studied with a focus on its potential public health issues, such as sexually transmitted infections and unwanted pregnancies, and its comorbidity with other risky behaviors. More recently, it has been studied as a normative step in romantic partnerships, [...] Read more.
Youth sexuality has been primarily studied with a focus on its potential public health issues, such as sexually transmitted infections and unwanted pregnancies, and its comorbidity with other risky behaviors. More recently, it has been studied as a normative step in romantic partnerships, either pre- or post-marital, as well as outside the context of romantic involvement. In this paper, we review the extensive literature on sexuality in adolescence and early adulthood both within and outside romantic relationships (i.e., casual sexual relationships and experiences; CSREs). Furthermore, the recent recognition of youth sexuality as a developmental task has led to a renewed interest from scholars in youth who abstain from sexual encounters, whether deliberately or not. A brief overview of the literature on cultural differences in sexuality, and sexual-minority youth sexual development is also provided. This paper concludes by suggesting future directions to bring the field of youth sexuality and romantic relationships forward. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Adolescent Romantic Relationships and Sex: Development and Behavior)
387 KiB  
Review
Dating Violence among High-Risk Young Women: A Systematic Review Using Quantitative and Qualitative Methods
by Lauren E. Joly and Jennifer Connolly
Behav. Sci. 2016, 6(1), 7; https://doi.org/10.3390/bs6010007 - 29 Jan 2016
Cited by 17 | Viewed by 7397
Abstract
Our systematic review identified 21 quantitative articles and eight qualitative articles addressing dating violence among high risk young women. The groups of high-risk young women in this review include street-involved, justice-involved, pregnant or parenting, involved with Child Protective Services, and youth diagnosed with [...] Read more.
Our systematic review identified 21 quantitative articles and eight qualitative articles addressing dating violence among high risk young women. The groups of high-risk young women in this review include street-involved, justice-involved, pregnant or parenting, involved with Child Protective Services, and youth diagnosed with a mental health issue. Our meta-analysis of the quantitative articles indicated that 34% (CI = 0.24–0.45) of high-risk young women report that they have been victims of physical dating violence and 45% (CI = 0.31–0.61) of these young women report perpetrating physical dating violence. Significant moderator variables included questionnaire and timeframe. Meta-synthesis of the qualitative studies revealed that high-risk young women report perpetrating dating violence to gain power and respect, whereas women report becoming victims of dating violence due to increased vulnerability. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Adolescent Romantic Relationships and Sex: Development and Behavior)
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