As early initiation of dating behaviors is associated with risky sexual behaviors (e.g., higher number of sexual partners, sex with strangers), the current study examined determinants of early dating behaviors, focusing on impulsivity. Participants were 11–12-year-old boys (n = 109) and girls (n = 61) recruited from a psychiatric clinic and ads targeted to the general public. Ordered logistic regression models were used to examine the association between each facet of impulsivity (negative urgency, positive urgency, lack of premeditation, lack of perseverance, and sensation seeking) and dating behaviors. Youth with higher sensation seeking and negative urgency was more likely to initiate dating behaviors at early ages compared to those with lower scores on those measures. Further, we found that female gender and higher parental education were associated with lower risk of initiating dating behaviors at early age. Advanced pubertal development was associated with higher risk for early dating. Our findings can inform prevention efforts, identifying sensation seeking and negative urgency as predictors of youths’ early engagement in dating behaviors, which can be a precursor of early sexual debut and risky sexual behaviors.

由于过早开始约会行为与危险的性行为有关（例如，性伴侣数量较多、与陌生人发生性关系），因此当前的研究检查了早期约会行为的决定因素，重点关注冲动。 参与者是从精神病诊所和针对公众的广告招募的11-12 岁男孩 ( n  = 109) 和女孩 ( n = 61)。使用有序逻辑回归模型来检查冲动的各个方面（消极紧迫感、积极紧迫感、缺乏预谋、缺乏毅力和寻求感觉）与约会行为之间的关联。与那些在这些指标上得分较低的年轻人相比，具有较高感觉寻求和消极紧迫感的年轻人更有可能在很小的时候就开始约会行为。此外，我们发现女性和较高的父母教育程度与幼年开始约会行为的风险较低有关。青春期发育提前与早期约会的风险较高相关。我们的研究结果可以为预防工作提供信息，将感觉寻求和消极紧迫感识别为青少年早期参与约会行为的预测因素，这可能是过早性行为和危险性行为的先兆。