African American Adolescent Sexuality: Influences on Sexual Scripting and Sexual Risk Behaviors

Because of numerous documented disparities in the sexual risk behaviors of African American adolescents compared to their peers from other ethnic groups, it is necessary to better understand the context in which their sexual socialization occurs. Sexual scripting is the process of developing frameworks that adolescents use to organize and process their sexual experiences. Sexual scripts help to fill the gap in understanding key contexts of African American youth, because they are developed through exposure to multiple contexts, including mass media, the community, and peers and family. These sources of sexual information interact with characteristics of the individual to determine how an adolescent will respond to these messages. Basic research findings suggest useful ways that clinicians may address influences on sexual scripts to decrease the sexual risk behaviors of African American youth. They also lead to a model to direct future research, given that much remains unknown. Alternatively, evidence-based intervention (EBI) programs can prevent and address sexual risk behaviors, although they need adaptation to make them relevant, sustainable, and acceptable to African American youth. Guidelines for adaptation of EBIs and the usefulness of an ecologically sound approach for this population are discussed. Research on such adaptations can determine the mechanisms behind the racial, gender, and class factors affecting interventions, incorporate technology and other factors relevant to these youths’ contexts, and determine answers to current questions such as the advisability of abstinence or comprehensive sex education with these youth. Such data will ensure that future programs are sensitively adapted to the cultural, racial, and gendered context of African American youth, including their strengths.