Is self-esteem a "double edged sword"? Self-esteem and the onset of adolescent sexual activity

Arbeitspapier

Self-esteem has been conceptualized as a social vaccine. The belief is that high self-esteem can inoculate young people, against vulnerability to a wide range of social illnesses. This study gives a contribution in the understanding of the causal relation between self-esteem and sexual behaviour among American adolescents. I analyzes the impact of different levels of early self-esteem on a wide set of risky sexual behaviours. I use data from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health and I take into account the endogeneity of self-esteem using instrumental variables methods and measuring self-esteem before sexual initiation. I find that self-esteem over a certain threshold' is a protective resource for girls, delaying the onset of sexual activity, reducing the number of occasional sexual partners and increasing the likelihood of having protected sexual encounters.

Object Details

• Language: Englisch

References and Relationships

• Bibliographic citation: Series: IZA Discussion Papers ; No. 7171

Classification and Topics

• Classification: Wirtschaft ; Health Behavior ; Fertility; Family Planning; Child Care; Children; Youth ; Economywide Country Studies: U.S.; Canada
• Subject: self-esteem ; adolescent's sexual behaviour ; Add Health ; instrumental variable model

Contributors, Places and Time

• Event: Geistige Schöpfung
• (who): Favara, Marta
• Event: Veröffentlichung
• (who): Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA)
• (where): Bonn
• (when): 2013

Further information

• Handle: http://hdl.handle.net/10419/69349
• Last update: 10.03.2025, 11:44 AM CET