Sex as a developmental transition: the direct and indirect roles of peers.

The influence of peers on adolescent sexual behaviours is an important but understudied phenomenon. Past studies have predominantly concentrated on the potential negative influences of peer norms on risky sexual behaviours, but they have seldom investigated the underlying processes behind such influences. This study explored the direct associations between adolescent sexual activity and friends' support, levels of disagreement with friends and friends' modelling for sexual activity. We also investigated the potential mediating role of the perception of peer influence for sexual activity and of the perception of being too young to have initiated sexual activity among these associations. This study was conducted among 328 Italian adolescents (56% female; 30% sexually active; aged 15–19 years; mean age = 16.23 years) using a two-wave longitudinal design. Linear and logistic regression analyses revealed that level of disagreement with friends and sex activity modelling by friends were both positively associated with the presence of sexual activity. Additionally, the perception of being too young to have initiated sexual activity fully mediated the association between the level of disagreement with friends and the presence of sexual activity, and it partially mediated the association between the sexual activity modelling by friends and the presence of sexual activity. Finally, perceived peer influence partially mediated the association between sexual activity modelling by friends and the presence of sexual activity. Implications for intervention development are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]