The Effect of Quality of Romantic Relationship and Sexual Behavior on Mental Health Among Adolescent Offenders

Background and Significance. Recognition on the significance of romantic relationships and sexual behavior in adolescent development has grown in the past two decades, prompting an emergence of relevant research and literature.  Both romantic as well as sexual involvement have been linked in existing research with poor mental health outcomes.  The primary objective of this study intended to discover the relationship between romance quality, sexual behavior, and mental health particularly among adolescent offenders, an uncharted territory in existing research. Furthermore, it aimed to examine gender differences in the relationships between the noted study variables.

Method. A secondary analysis was conducted on the data gathered from The Pathways to Desistance study, a longitudinal, multi-wave, and multi-site study that followed juvenile offenders from the cities of Philadelphia, PA and Phoenix, AZ into early adulthood. 

The sample consisted of 1,354 adolescents with felony offenses within the juvenile and adult court systems (41.4% black, 33.5% Hispanic, 20.2% White, and 4.8% other). The participants were between the ages of 14 and 17 at the time of their committing offense and 13.6% were female and 86.4% were male.  The current study utilized baseline data primarily derived from self-reported information.  The Brief Symptom Inventory (BSI) is a 53-item self-report measure of mental health symptomology (Derogratis & Spencer, 1993). The four subscales of the BSI were utilized: interpersonal sensitivity (α=.661), anxiety (α=.78), depression (α=.81), and hostility (α=.75). The modified version of Quality of Romantic Relationships inventory (Hendrick, 1988) was also used (α=.69). Multiple characteristics of sexual behavior were assessed including age at first sexual relationship, first casual sex, number of previous sexual partners, and having one-night stand.  A series of multiple regression, chi-Squared, and independent t tests analyses were performed.

Results. The results from the series of performed analyses pointed to riskier sexual behavior among male adolescent offenders. Male adolescent offenders were found to have a significantly lower mean age at first sex, higher number of one-night stands and previous sexual partners, and an increased likelihood to have engaged in casual first sex compared with female adolescent offenders. In the regression analyses of male sample, adolescent male offender who reported having a casual first sex reported higher levels of hostility.  Among the female adolescent offenders, those who reported a higher quality of romance are less likely to have depressive symptoms.

Implication. The significant gender difference that was found in the current study can provide important context in generating gender specific interventions that address the different manifestations of mental health symptoms. Awareness on how romance quality and casual sexual behavior impacts mental health can guide efforts and interventions surrounding relationship building and risky sexual behaviors that could pave new pathways towards desistance for the juvenile delinquent population. Future research can further expand upon internalizing versus externalizing mental health symptoms that were found between male and female subjects in the current study.