نقش دلبستگی عاشقانه و اکتشاف هویت دوستیابی در درک نگرش جنسی نوجوانان و ریسک پذیری انباشته جنسی

This study addressed how two normative developmental factors, attachment and identity, are associated with adolescents' sexual attitudes and sexual risk-taking behavior. The sample consisted of 2029 adolescents (mean age = 16.2 years) living in the Southeast United States. Path analysis was used to test the hypotheses. Higher levels of attachment anxiety predicted more dating identity exploration and less healthy sexual attitudes. Higher levels of attachment avoidance predicted less dating identity exploration and indirectly predicted less healthy sexual attitudes through dating identity exploration. Females with dating or sexual experience showed the weakest associations between the attachment dimensions and dating identity exploration. More dating identity exploration predicted healthier sexual attitudes; this association was strongest for non-virgins. Finally, higher levels of attachment avoidance were associated with higher cumulative sexual risk scores, but only among non-virgin males. Results are interpreted in light of theory and research on attachment, identity exploration, and adolescent sexual relationships.

During middle adolescence, developmental processes co-evolve as youth engage in the formation of identity, the initiation of romantic relationships and the exploration of emerging sexuality (Montgomery, 2005). The literature typically neglects the normative aspects of development that coincide with sexual development (Tolman & McClelland, 2011). Drawing upon theories of attachment and identity formation, scholars recently have argued the importance of considering associations among intimacy and identity in adolescence (Pittman, Keiley, Kerpelman, & Vaughn, 2011). In this study we address linkages among romantic attachment, identity exploration, sexual attitudes and behaviors.