Effect of parental investments on young adult reproductive health: An investigation of the moderating effects of immigrant families

The politics of immigration in 2007 often ignores the reality that the majority of immigrants in America are legal, and that—legal or illegal—the foreign-born population is fifteen percent of our nation of 300 million. Although immigrants are a heterogeneous group in many ways, they are more likely than the native-born to share conservative values about premarital sexuality. They are also less likely to have access to reproductive health care than the native born population. In this research, we are interested in both the risk and protective effects of immigrant parents on the reproductive behavior and health of their late adolescent and young adult children. We use the first and third waves of the Add Health study to examine how parental investments during their children's adolescence affect their reproductive health behavior in young adulthood. To what extent do the effects of parental investments persist into young adulthood? Furthermore, in light of the rapid increases in immigrant populations during the period of study: How are parental effects on sexual and reproductive health behaviors modified by the immigration history of the young adult and his or her parents? We hypothesize that immigrant parents exert a strong protective effect into young adulthood through social and cultural norms that guide sexual behavior in late adolescents and young adults. At the same time, immigrant children and young adults are less likely to have access to reproductive health care, which puts them at elevated risk of negative outcomes when they do engage in sexual behavior.