Sexual intercourse, romantic relationship inauthenticity, and adolescent mental health

Numerous studies indicate sexual intercourse, especially when it occurs early in adolescence, increases youths' risk of mental health problems. However, no research has examined whether the association between sexual intercourse and mental health varies by romantic relationship inauthenticity, or the level of incongruence between thoughts/feelings and actions within romantic relationships. Using data from a subset of romantically-involved Add Health respondents, we measured sexual involvement in romantic relationships and applied sequence analysis to reports of ideal and actual romantic relationship to measure inauthenticity within adolescent romances. Regressions of depression symptoms indicate that the magnitude of the positive associations between sexual intercourse and girls' mental health is most pronounced in relationships characterized by high levels of relationship inauthenticity and that there is no association between sexual intercourse and girls' depression at low levels of relationship inauthenticity. Having sexual intercourse is positively associated with depression symptoms among boys, but relationship inauthenticity does not alter this association. We discuss the implications of these findings for research on adolescent sexuality and programs aimed at enhancing youth sexuality development.