How Are Self‐Efficacy and Family Involvement Associated With Less Sexual Risk Taking Among Ethnic Minority Adolescents?

The current study investigates the protective influences of family involvement (i.e., parental monitoring, communication, closeness, and family proximity) and sexual self-efficacy on the risky sexual behavior of ethnic minority (predominantly Mexican-origin) adolescents in the southwestern United States (N = 122). Results indicate that whereas sexual self-efficacy was associated with intentions to have safe sex in the next 3 months, family involvement predicted being less likely to have ever had sex and to intend to have sex in the next 3 months and fewer lifetime sexual partners, beyond the variance predicted by sexual self-efficacy. Sexual self-efficacy continues to be an important predictor of adolescent risky sexual behavior and intentions; however, family involvement (monitoring, communication, closeness, and proximity) impacts certain positive preventive behaviors above and beyond self-efficacy. Family involvement is an important factor to consider in prevention and intervention with ethnic minority adolescents.Key Words: ethnic minority adolescents, family, parental monitoring, sexual self-efficacy.Perceived self-efficacy, or belief in one's ability to exert control over one's sexual behavior, is one of the best predictors of sexual risk taking among adolescents (Bandura, 1997, 2006; Sieving et al., 1997). Although parental communication, monitoring, and closeness have been associated with reduced sexual risk taking among young people, including delay of sexual debut (Resnick et al., 1997; Velez-Pastrana, Gonzalez-Rodriguez, & Borges-Hemandez, 2005), safer sex practices, and fewer sexual partners (Borawski, IeversLandis, Lovegreen, & Trapl, 2003; DiClemente et al., 2001), previous research has not investigated the association between family-related factors and sexual self-efficacy. Yet the development of self-efficacy is rooted in family practices in that children start to develop their physical, social, and cognitive capabilities through their interactions with the environment, which is largely the family context when they are young (Bandura, 1997, 2006). This study examines the relation between family involvement (parental closeness, monitoring, communication, and family proximity), sexual self-efficacy, and risky sexual behaviors in an ethnic minority adolescent population that consists predominantly of Mexican-origin youth. Family practices play an important role in the safer sex behaviors of Mexican-origin adolescents (Atienzo, Walker, Campero, Lamadrid-Figueroa, & Gutierrez, 2009; Bourdeau, Thomas, & Long, 2008). Little is known, however, about how family involvement may contribute to increased sexual selfefficacy and, thus, reduced sexual risk taking.According to self-efficacy theory, the more people believe that they can produce desired results through their own actions, the more likely they are to adopt, initiate, and maintain healthpromoting rather than health-compromising behaviors (Bandura, 2006). Sexual self-efficacy is comprised of multiple components, including not only the ability to use precautions such as purchasing and effectively using condoms, but also to refuse unwanted sex and to assert one's needs for sexual fulfillment (Buzwell & Rosenthal, 1996). Bourdeau and colleagues (2008) expanded the precaution component to include the ability to talk with one's partner about HIV and AIDS and sexually transmitted infection (STI) protection. For adolescents at high risk for HIV, sexual self-efficacy was found to be the only predictor of intentions to engage in safe sex, where intentions were the strongest predictor of unprotected sex (Rosario, Mahler, Hunter, & Gwadz, 1999). Conversely, youth who get involved in detrimental health behaviors in general tend to have lower selfefficacy (Schwarzer & Luszczynska, 2006).Self-efficacy generally first develops during childhood in the family context. Parents contribute directly to a child's self-efficacy development through daily interactions in the home in which parents provide opportunities for children to develop self-knowledge of their capabilities. …