Given the potential for unintended pregnancy and exposure to sexually transmitted infections, both of which can have long-term deleterious health consequences, the identification of predictors of adolescent risky sexual behavior remains an important line of inquiry. Although prior research has identified a variety of family and individual factors that are associated with risky sexual behavior, few studies have examined the role of family economic stress. The current study utilized three waves of data from a community sample of African American families with adolescents (N = 778, 54% girls, average age = 10.4 years old at Wave 1, 12.3 years old at Wave 2, 15.6 years old at Wave 3) to test the family stress model as an explanation of adolescent risky sexual behavior. Multi-group analyses examined gender differences in the family processes expected to link economic stress and risky sexual behavior. Unlike most studies utilizing this theoretical perspective, family structure was also taken into account. The results supported the propositions of the family stress model for boys and girls for both two-caregiver and single-mother households. Further, in single-mother households, maternal psychological distress continued to have a positive effect on adolescent risky sex even after taking into account the impact of parenting behaviors. Overall, the results suggest that economic stress ripples through the family system, increasing adolescent risky sexual behavior through its negative impact on family processes, highlighting the need for systemic policy changes rather than individual-level intervention/prevention efforts.

考虑到意外怀孕和接触性传播感染的可能性，这两者都可能对健康产生长期有害后果，因此确定青少年危险性行为的预测因素仍然是一个重要的研究方向。尽管先前的研究已经确定了与危险性行为相关的各种家庭和个人因素，但很少有研究检查家庭经济压力的作用。目前的研究利用了来自有青少年的非裔美国人家庭的社区样本的三波数据（N = 778，54% 的女孩，平均年龄 = 第 1 波时 10.4 岁，第 2 波时为 12.3 岁，第 3 波时为 15.6 岁) 测试家庭压力模型作为青少年危险性行为的解释。多组分析检查了家庭过程中的性别差异，预计将经济压力和危险的性行为联系起来。与大多数利用这一理论视角的研究不同，家庭结构也被考虑在内。结果支持男孩和女孩的家庭压力模型的主张，适用于两个照顾者和单亲家庭。此外，在单亲家庭中，即使考虑到养育行为的影响，母亲的心理困扰仍然对青少年危险性行为产生积极影响。总体而言，结果表明，经济压力会波及整个家庭系统，通过对家庭过程的负面影响增加青少年的危险性行为，