Exploring the Impact of Religiosity and Acculturation On the Sexual Health of Adolescent Hispanic Females

Purpose: This study explores the impact of religiosity and acculturation on the sexual health of Hispanic females. Many of the vulnerabilities to risk identified in the literature – specifically gender, minority status, and low SES – are relevant for Latinas and data indicates that they have higher rates of STIs than their peers. High-religiosity and low-acculturation have been identified as protective factors; however, these findings are inconsistent, with some evidence of increased risk instead of protection, especially among minority groups. Method: Using data from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health, a nationally representative sample of self-identified Hispanic females (N=887) was analyzed using SEM. Religiosity was measured by five items comprising two latent structures - intrinsic religiosity and extrinsic religiosity. Acculturation was measured by a single latent variable comprised of five items. Three dependent variables were assessed: Unprotected sex, risky sexual behavior, and STI diagnosis. Unprotected sex was a count variable of the number of times the respondent had unprotected oral, anal, or vaginal sex during their first sexual encounter with reported partners. Risky sexual behavior was measured by summing 13 dichotomized items reflecting risky sexual practices. STI diagnosis was assessed from the respondent's report and/or biomarker data for chlamydia, gonorrhea, HPV, HSV, and HIV. Results: Results suggest that higher intrinsic religiosity and lower acculturation are protective against all three outcomes while extrinsic religiosity increased risk. For unprotected sex, a one standard deviation increase in intrinsic religiosity and acculturation resulted in a decrease (.98 and.78 units respectively, p<.001) of unprotected sex acts but the same increase in extrinsic religiosity resulted in a .91 unit increase (p<.01). Extrinsic religiosity also increased the risk for STIs; a one standard deviation increase in extrinsic religiosity created a .38 unit rise in STI score (p<.01). Intrinsic religiosity and acculturation had the opposite effect, lowering the STI score by .39 and .44 respectively (p<.01 for both). For risky sexual behaviors, the drop in Z-score from a one-unit increase in acculturation and intrinsic religiosity was 1.97 (p=.058) and 2.45 (p<.05) respectively. For each point increase in extrinsic religiosity, the probit index for risky sexual behavior rose 2.40 (p<.01). Implications: This study improves the current understanding of the risk and protective benefits of religiosity and acculturation on sexual health for Latinas by identifying the impact of two components of religiosity (intrinsic and extrinsic) when modeled with acculturation. Since low acculturation for Latinas often results in high extrinsic religiosity, the risk from higher levels of extrinsic religiosity may be attributable to greater access to potential partners, restricted access to sexual health information, and parental presumptions of supervision at religious activities where little or no supervision is provided. These findings suggest social work with adolescent Hispanic females might benefit from focusing on skill enhancement (e.g. refusal and avoidance skills), improved community partnerships (e.g. screening and education with ecclesial institutions), and greater cultural awareness specific to religious identity.