Longitudinal associations from neurobehavioral disinhibition to adolescent risky sexual behavior in boys: direct and mediated effects through moderate alcohol consumption

Abstract

Purpose: This longitudinal study tested the hypothesis that neurobehavioral disinhibition (ND) in childhood, mediated by alcohol use, portends risky sexual behavior (number of sexual partners) in midadolescence.

Methods: Participants were 410 adolescent boys. Neurobehavioral disinhibition was assessed at 11.3 years of age. Frequency and quantity of alcohol use on a typical drinking occasion were assessed at 13.4 years of age at first follow-up, and sexual behavior at 16.0 years at second follow-up.

Results: Quantity of alcohol consumed on a typical drinking occasion, but not frequency of alcohol use, mediated the relation between ND and number of sexual partners.

Conclusions: These findings indicate that number of sexual partners in midadolescence is predicted by individual differences in boys' psychological self-regulation during childhood and moderate alcohol consumption in early adolescence, and that ND may be a potential target for multi-outcome public health interventions.

Keywords: Alcohol use; Boys; Neurobehavioral disinhibition; Sexual risk taking.