Protective factors are not multipurpose.

Factors that are associated with teenagers' postponing sexual initiation are not, for the most part, protective against STDs in early adulthood, according to an analysis of data from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health. (1) Six percent of participants in the survey's 2001-2002 wave, who were aged 18-26, tested positive for chlamydia, gonorrhea or trichomoniasis. In multivariate analyses of variables measured in 1996 that are associated with delayed sexual debut, only two were predictive of STD infection: The odds of infection were reduced among respondents whose parents had strongly disapproved of their having sex during adolescence (odds ratio, 0.9) and among those whose grade point average had been above 3.0 (0.8); the associations were significant only for females. STD diagnosis was not associated with feelings of connectedness to family or school, reported importance of religion, attending a parochial school, family mental health, taking a virginity pledge, parental disapproval of contraception, self-reported physical appearance, same-sex attraction, expectations of dying young or time spent doing paid work. The analysts comment that "it may be unrealistic to expect broad protective models" to predict "complex health outcomes."

(1.) Ford CA et al., Predicting adolescents' longitudinal risk for sexually transmitted infection: results from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health, Archives of Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine, 2005, 159(7):657-664.

FYI is compiled and written by Dore Hollander, executive editor of Perspectives on Sexual and Reproductive Health.