Risky sexual behavior in young people is a significant public health problem because of its prevalence and adverse outcomes related to health. Risky sexual behaviors are associated with an increased risk for sexually transmitted diseases, unexpected pregnancy, and some types of cancers such as cervical cancer. Therefore, it is vital to understand how attitudes related to marriage and cohabitation affect decisions on sex. Understanding this relationship is essential to scholars because it would help them comprehend how the beliefs determine and change people and relational behaviors. Moreover, such understanding is vital in the development of effective interventions and methods to promote the making of healthy decisions regarding sexual relations. The current paper assesses an article on risky sexual behaviors in diverse racial or ethnic populations.
Landor & Halpern (2016) conducted a study to investigate the longitudinal relationships between marriage and cohabitation attitudes and adverse sexual behaviors in diverse ethnic and racial backgrounds. The aim was to establish if a causal relationship exists between the variable of interest. The authors examined if the attitudes regarding marriage and cohabitation (Independent variable) had an effect on an individual’s engagement in harmful sexual behaviors (Dependent variable). The articles present multiple causal relations in the hypotheses formulate by the researchers, Landor & Halpern (2016) hypothesized that positive perspectives about marriage and negative viewpoints about cohabitation reduce the likelihood of engaging in unsafe sexual practices. They support the suggested relationship by arguing that risk sexual practices are not consistent with marriage as well as future behaviors. Also, Landor & Halpern (2016) investigated the viewpoints on skin tone and skin color have a moderating effect in racial or ethnic minorities. The researchers sought to determine if the impact of perspectives related to marriage and cohabiting are more solid in people with lighter skins than those with a dark complexion.
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The authors argue that individuals with dark skin tend to see marriage as something that is difficult to attain, while the light ones consider it attainable. Therefore, they hypothesized that skin color has an impact on sexual behaviors, and individuals with lighter skins are less likely to engage in dangerous sexual behaviors. The above hypotheses are causal because they indicate a cause-and-effect relationship between the study variables. Besides, the proposed relationships are directional. Their hypotheses suggest either a positive or negative cause-effect association. For example, the hypothesis that the more an individual has lighter skin, the less their likelihood of engaging in unsafe sexual practices indicates a negative causal relationship between the two variables. As one variable increases, the other one decreases. A correlation does not indicate causality. It only proposes a relationship between variables but does not indicate cause and effect or direction in relationships.
In the methods applied by the researchers, confounding variables were controlled for to ensure that that the effect was only attributable to the independent variable. Confounding variables are the third variables influencing the dependent and independent variables. Failure to consider such variables can lead to a wrong estimation of the relationship between variables. Confounding factors such as religion, socioeconomic status, and education attainment, among others, were accounted for. The results obtained also indicate correlation and causal relationships between the variables studied. For example, the study found a significant correlation between perspectives on marriage and cohabitation and the number of sexual partners’ participants had (Landor & Halpern, 2016). Also, a relationship between skin tone and the number of sexual partners participants had was identified. Causal relationships in the results obtained were also identified. For example, Landor & Halpern (2016) identified that participants with darker skin had more sexual partners than their lighter counterparts. Therefore, the darker individuals were, the more sexual partners they had and vice versa. The relationship is a positive causal relationship. An increase in one variable leads to an increase in the other one. Moreover, the results confirm the hypothesis that positive perspectives towards marriage reduced the possibility of engaging in unsafe practices in light skin participants than in dark-skinned ones. Therefore, the entire study sought to determine or identify cause and effect associations between the variables studied. The study was purely quantitative. Qualitative methods in data analysis were not applied. The study aimed to provide descriptive information about the research variables. Methods such as ANOVA and multivariate analyses were applied.
In conclusion, the study focused on examining the effects of marriage and cohabiting viewpoints on risky sexual practices. The study aimed to determine causality between the study variables. To identify causality, the changes in the variable assumed to affect the difference in the other variable is determined. In addition, the changes in the affected variable must be identified. The study applied quantitative methods to identify the causal relationships between the study variables. During data analysis, confounding variables were considered and accounted for to ensure that only the anticipated variable was associated with the changes or variations observed. The confounding variables accounted for included social-economic status and education, among others. The study’s findings suggest that the darker an individual’s skin is, the more the number of sexual partners these unsafe sexual practices. In contrast, light skin individuals have fewer sexual partners hence less risky sexual behaviors. The authors suggest that this observation can be explained by the argument that individuals with dark skin have negative attitudes towards marriage because they consider it unattainable. However, the light-skinned individuals view it as attainable hence positive perspectives towards it. As a result, they are likely to engage in safe sexual practices.
References
Landor, A. M., & Halpern, C. T. (2016). The enduring significance of skin tone: Linking skin tone, attitudes toward marriage and cohabitation, and sexual behavior. Journal of Youth and Adolescence , 45 (5), 986-1002. doi:10.1007/s10964-016-0456-8
