Table 3. Relationships of Pubertal Development With Children's Risk Behaviors and Parenting Characteristics.
| Behavior/characteristic a | Total, n (%) | Pubertal development | |
|---|---|---|---|
| No signs, n n (%) |
Some signs, n (%) |
||
| Children's risk behaviors | |||
| Sexual experience (p = .374) | |||
| Not had sex | 345 (89.6) | 110 (91.7) | 235 (88.7) |
| Had sex | 40 (10.4) | 10 (8.3) | 30 (11.3) |
| Anticipation of sex (p = .028) | |||
| Anticipate no activity | 92 (23.8) | 36 (30.3) | 56 (20.9) |
| Anticipate kissing/touching | 146 (37.7) | 34 (28.6) | 112 (41.8) |
| Anticipate sex | 149 (38.5) | 49 (41.2) | 100 (37.3) |
| Other risk behaviors (p = .005) | |||
| None | 237 (64.7) | 85 (76.6) | 152 (59.4) |
| One | 84 (22.8) | 19 (17.1) | 65 (25.4) |
| Two or more | 46 (12.5) | 7 (6.3) | 39 (15.2) |
|
| |||
| Parenting characteristics | |||
| Quality of parent-child relationship (p = .997) | |||
| Low | 126 (32.7) | 39 (32.5) | 87 (32.8) |
| Medium | 122 (31.7) | 38 (31.7) | 84 (31.7) |
| High | 137 (35.6) | 43 (35.8) | 94 (35.4) |
| Parent-child communication about sexual topics (p = .010) | |||
| Low | 127 (32.8) | 52 (43.0) | 75 (28.2) |
| Medium | 110 (28.4) | 33 (27.3) | 77 (29.0) |
| High | 150 (38.8) | 36 (29.8) | 114 (42.9) |
| Parental barriers to communication about sex (p = .721) | |||
| Low | 184 (47.6) | 58 (48.7) | 126 (47.0) |
| Medium | 105 (27.1) | 34 (28.6) | 71 (26.5) |
| High | 98 (25.3) | 27 (22.7) | 71 (26.5) |
| Parental monitoring (p = .253) | |||
| Low | 112 (29.5) | 34 (29.6) | 78 (29.4) |
| Medium | 143 (37.6) | 37 (32.2) | 106 (40.0) |
| High | 125 (32.9) | 44 (38.3) | 81 (30.6) |
a
The p value from Pearson's chi-square tests of significance of association between each behavior/characteristic and pubertal development is given after the name of the behavior/characteristic.