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ERIC Number: EJ930856
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2011-Aug
Pages: 6
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-0140-1971
EISSN: N/A
Brief Report: "I Can't Talk about It"--Sexuality and Self-Silencing as Interactive Predictors of Depressive Symptoms in Adolescent Dating Couples
Little, Katherine C.; Welsh, Deborah P.; Darling, Nancy; Holmes, Rachel M.
Journal of Adolescence, v34 n4 p789-794 Aug 2011
This longitudinal study examined sexual intercourse within adolescent romantic relationships as a couple-level moderator of the association between adolescent individual characteristics and depressive symptoms. Two hundred nine middle- and older-adolescent dating couples (aged 14-17 and 17-21, respectively) reported on their own self-silencing, depressive symptoms, and sexual behaviors. At Time 1, frequency of sexual intercourse significantly moderated the relationship between self-silencing and depressive symptoms, such that adolescents higher in self-silencing engaging in more frequent sex were at risk for clinically significant levels of depression. Adolescents who were low in self-silencing were not at increased risk for depression, regardless of frequency of sex. Self-silencing also significantly predicted increases in depressive symptoms from Time 1 to Time 2. Implications include the possibility that frequent sex in highly self-silencing adolescents exacerbates psychological depletion believed to link self-silencing to depressive symptoms, and that this depletion compounds over time. (Contains 1 figure and 2 tables.)
Elsevier. 6277 Sea Harbor Drive, Orlando, FL 32887-4800. Tel: 877-839-7126; Tel: 407-345-4020; Fax: 407-363-1354; e-mail: usjcs@elsevier.com; Web site: http://www.elsevier.com
Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: N/A
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A