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Psicothema was founded in Asturias (northern Spain) in 1989, and is published jointly by the Psychology Faculty of the University of Oviedo and the Psychological Association of the Principality of Asturias (Colegio Oficial de Psicólogos del Principado de Asturias).
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Psicothema, 2012. Vol. Vol. 24 (nº 2). 211-216




Sexual behavior in Spanish adolescents of divorced parents

Mireia Orgilés1, José P. Espada1, Blair T. Johnson2, Tania B. Huedo-Medina2 and Elena Carratalá1

1 Universidad Miguel Hernández and
2 University of Connecticut

Marital breakup has been associated with numerous behavioral problems in children, such as sexual risk behaviors. This research is the first to examine sexual behaviors of Spanish adolescents related to whether their parents were married or divorced. Participants were 342 boys and girls aged between 14 and 18 years. The sample provided confidential information about their sexual behavior and birth control methods. Significant differences were only found in percentages of adolescents who had engaged in mutual masturbation, intercourse, or oral sex, and who had practiced these sexual relations in the last six months, in both cases, they were higher when the parents had broken their marital relationship. Regarding adolescents of divorced parents, engaging in intercourse is more likely in older teenagers who live with a stepparent. Moreover, older adolescents who were younger when parents divorced and who live in a reconstituted family, have more sexual partners. These and other findings are discussed.

Conducta sexual en adolescentes españoles con padres divorciados.La disolución de la pareja se ha asociado con diversos problemas de conducta en los hijos, tales como los comportamientos sexuales de riesgo. Este estudio es el primero en examinar las conductas sexuales de los adolescentes españoles en relación a si sus padres están casados o divorciados. Los participantes fueron 342 adolescentes de edades comprendidas entre 14 y 18 años, que proporcionaron información confidencial sobre su comportamiento sexual y métodos anticonceptivos. Se encontraron diferencias significativas únicamente en la proporción de adolescentes que había tenido alguna vez masturbación mutua, sexo oral o coito y que había practicado este tipo de relaciones sexuales en los últimos seis meses, en ambos casos mayor cuando los padres se habían divorciado. En cuanto a los adolescentes con padres divorciados, es más probable haberse iniciado en las relaciones sexuales cuando tienen más edad y viven con la nueva pareja del progenitor. Asimismo, los adolescentes mayores, los que eran más jóvenes cuando los padres se divorciaron y aquellos que viven en una familia reconstituida, tienen más parejas sexuales. Se discuten éstos y otros hallazgos.

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