The bottom part of Table 5 (indicated with T2 for eighth grade measures), shows simple correlations linking child characteristics at the end of eighth grade (age 14) to the timing of sex, tobacco, and substance use initiation. For both boys and girls, pubertal development, depressive symptoms, gang involvement, deviant friends, and school maladjustment were significantly associated with earlier timing of sexual activity, tobacco, and alcohol/drug use. Depressive symptomatology (for girls), gang involvement (for boys), deviant friends and school maladjustment (for girls and boys) were also associated with elevated rates of pregnancy and, in some cases, STDs.
