The Role of Depression in the Relationship between Early Pubertal Timing and Sexual Risk-Taking Behaviors during Adolescence.

Abstract

Rates of HIV infections in the Caribbean are the second highest in the world and Caribbean adolescents have been found to have a high engagement in sexual risk behaviors. The current study examines Caribbean adolescents sexual risk behaviors, and in particular the role early pubertal timing and depression play in adolescent sexual risk-taking. We also look into whether depression is a moderator or a mediator in the relationship between early maturation and sexual risk-taking. There have been no previous studies that have looked into the relationships between these three variables in a Caribbean sample. Data were drawn from 229 adolescents from two schools in the Caribbean island of St. Maarten participating in a 2-wave longitudinal study. Contrary to our expectations pubertal timing was not related to sexual risk taking for either gender. Results showed late, but not early, maturing girls are at higher risk of developing depressive symptomatology. Depression was not found to predict girls’ risky sexual behaviors. Regarding boys, no significant associations between pubertal maturation and depression were found. Depression was found to longitudinally predict boys’ nonuse of protection during sex, having sex with someone unknown, and having multiple sexual partners. Finally, no significant moderation or mediation effects of depression were identified for either gender. These findings add to the literature on the impact of the timing of maturation on Caribbean girls’ psychosocial development, and highlight the need to consider depressive symptomatology, especially for boys, when designing prevention and intervention strategies for the handling of the public health crisis regarding sexually transmitted infections in the Caribbean region.