Working Memory can Predict Sexual Risk-Taking in Adolescents
Weaker working memory was associated with increased risky behavior, but researchers said intervention can help adolescents develop better self-control.
“We extended previous findings by showing for the first time that individuals who have preexisting weakness in working memory are more likely to have difficulty controlling impulsive tendencies in early to mid-adolescence,” said Atika Khurana, an assistant professor of counseling psychology and human services at the University of Oregon, in a press release. “Furthermore, changes in these impulsive tendencies are associated with early and unprotected sex in adolescents, even after taking into account parents’ socioeconomic status, involvement, and monitoring of sexual behavior.”
Researchers measured working memory for 360 adolescents aged 12 to 15 and followed them for two years, using task-based assessment and self-reports from the teenagers to determine their growth in working memory and changes in both their self-control and risky sexual behavior. All the teenagers who participated in the study were from low and middle socioeconomic backgrounds, with 52 percent of them being girls and 56 percent non-Hispanic white.
During the two-year period, the adolescents with weaker working memory at the start self-reported larger increases in impulsive actions and had more self-control issues. The desire to have sex outweighed the risks of longer-term consequences such as contracting sexually transmitted diseases or getting pregnant, researchers said.
Dan Romer, research director of the Annenberg Public Policy Center at the University of Pennsylvania, which conducted the original study the University of Oregon based theirs on, said it’s possible to intervene for many adolescents who need to improve their working memory and exercise greater self-control.
“Certain parenting practices, characterized by nurturing and responsive involvement, have been shown to support the development of working memory,” Romer said. “Interventions could aim to strengthen these types of parenting practices as well.”
The study is published in Child Development.
