Although bivariate associations were revealed between conduct problems, poor impulse control, and household poverty and engaging in risky sex 5 years later, there were no direct or mediated effects of these distal predictors in the multivariate models. These results appear to qualify early reports of direct links between low SES and behavior problems on risky sex (Kahn et al. 2002; Upchurch et al. 1999). Furthermore, controlling for household poverty did not account for the association between African American race and sexual risk-taking. However, given that sexual risk-taking is prevalent among adolescents and there is generally little to distinguish sexual activity from sexual risk-taking in mid-adolescent girls (Hipwell et al. 2011), multiple developmental pathways are likely to be operating. For example, Zimmer-Gembeck and Helfand (2008) suggested that dispositional traits (e.g., poor impulse control) combined with problem behaviors may be important predictors of early sexual debut, which is then associated with a greater number of sexual partners, lower rates of contraception use, and increased rates of unwanted pregnancy and STIs by mid-adolescence (e.g., Kaestle et al. 2005; Niccolai et al. 2004). A
