Roles of Parental Attachment in the Development of Risky Sexual Behavior

Risky sexual behavior and substance use disorder (SUD) often co-occur, share similar developmental trajectories, and have multiple common psychological and social risk factors. A psychological dysregulation trait, neurobehavior disinhibition (ND), which predicts SUD, was recently shown to also contribute to risk for number of sex partners in adolescence. In addition, adolescents who are affiliated with delinquent peers are at higher risk for antisocial behavior and SUD. Attachment to parents, which buffers against a range of maladaptive behaviors and psychosocial problems, has been suggested to contribute to risky sexual behavior; however, the mediators of this association have not been determined. Elucidation of potential pathways through social (affiliation with devlinquent peers) and psychological (ND) risk factors is thus required for further understanding of risky sexual behavior etiology. The primary aim of the current study was testing whether the association between parental attachment and risky sexual behavior is mediated by ND and/or delinquent peer affiliation. A secondary aim was testing if association between parental attachment and SUD shared similar mediation paths as risky sex. Participants were recruited at age 10-12 years and followed up to age 22. Participants were recruited according to having a father with an SUD related to an illegal substance (n=344) or no psychiatric illness (n=350). The sample (72% male), had a mean age of 11.41 (SD=.91) at recruitment, and was 73% European-American and 24% African-American. Exploratory factor analysis of youth-report measures replicated the latent construct of attachment to fathers and mothers that was previously reported for older adolescents. Risky sexual behavior was measured as number of sexual partners in the last three years. Testing the effects attachment to fathers and mothers separately, models showed good fit (father: χ²=50.63, df=15, p<.001, CFI=.96, TLI=.90, RMSEA=.06; mother: χ²=50.15, df=15, p<.001, CFI=.96, TLI=.90, RMSEA=.06). The association between attachment to fathers with number of sexual partners was mediated by delinquent peer affiliation (z=-1.96, p=.05). In contrast, the association between attachment to fathers with SUD was mediated by both ND (z=-2.75, p=.006) and delinquent peer affiliation (z=-2.8, p=.005). Delinquent peer affiliation mediated associations between attachment to mothers with both number of sexual partners (z=-2.05, p=.04) and SUD (z=-2.87, p=.004). Taken together, these findings suggest that in addition to fortifying parental support and parent-child bonding, family based prevention programs for risky sexual behavior should emphasize regulating peer social relationships; while programs for SUD should consider both psychological development and social relationships.