Self-esteem, coping, and social support as moderators of the relation between executive functions and high-risk behavior among urban, African American adolescent girls

The purpose of this study was to characterize the risk behavior of inner-city African American female adolescents from a neuropsychological perspective using a risk-resistance model. Participants included 77 African American female teens (mean age 15.54 years; range 12–19 years) who were recruited from an inner-city community primary care clinic. All participants were from low SES households. During individual psychosocial interviews participants provided information on risk behaviors, including substance use, sexual activity, and delinquency. They also completed measures focused on perceived social support, coping strategies, and self-esteem. Additionally, participants underwent neuropscyhological testing focused primarily on executive cognitive functions (Stroop, WCST, Trail Making Test, PASAT, VSAT, Porteus Mazes, COWAT). It was hypothesized that high-risk behavior was related to level of executive cognitive function. It was also hypothesized that the relationship between executive cognitive function and high-risk behavior was moderated by psychosocial resources (social support, adaptive coping skills, and high self-esteem). Correlational analyses revealed limited relationships between risk taking measures of executive function, and revealed that specific types of risk behaviors were related to different measures of executive cognitive function. It was also found that self-esteem, social support, and adaptive coping were all associated with decreased sexual risk behavior. However, psychosocial resources were not significantly associated with substance use or delinquency. Multiple hierarchical regression equations found that psychosocial resources do not moderate the relation between sexual risk taking and a measure of executive cognitive function (VSAT). Results were inconsistent with those of similar studies using male sample and support the need to consider sex and ethnicity when examining risk behavior. Results also provide evidence that neither risk behavior nor executive cognitive function is a unitary construct. Future research in the area of risk-taking behavior should continue with this population, but should utilize measures of executive cognitive function that better capture the role of emotion in risk decision making.