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Journal of Adolescent Health 58 (2016) 317e322

www.jahonline.org

Original article

Rap Music Use, Perceived Peer Behavior, and Sexual Initiation


Among Ethnic Minority Youth
Kimberly A. Johnson-Baker, Dr.P.H. *, Christine Markham, Ph.D.,
Elizabeth Baumler, Ph.D., Honora Swain, Ph.D., and Susan Emery, Ph.D.
Center for Health Prevention and Promotion Research, University of Texas School of Public Health, University of Texas Health Science Center, Houston, Texas

Article history: Received April 20, 2015; Accepted November 3, 2015


Keywords: Sexual behavior; Rap music; Media; Peers; Norms

A B S T R A C T
IMPLICATIONS AND
CONTRIBUTION
Purpose: Research shows that rap music use is associated with risky sexual behavior in ethnic
minority youth; however, it is unknown whether rap music use impacts sexual initiation specif-
Overall, this study estab-
ically and, if so, which factors mediate this impact. Thus, we investigated the longitudinal rela- lishes the need for further
tionship between hours spent listening to rap music in seventh grade and sexual initiation in ninth research on the impact of
grade. We also examined the role of perceived peer sexual behavior as a potential mediator of this rap music on perceived
relationship. peer sexual behavior.
Methods: We analyzed data from students (n ¼ 443) enrolled in a school-based randomized Importantly, the findings
controlled trial of a sexual health education curriculum collected at baseline and at 18-month do not support the censor-
follow-up. Rap music use and perceived peer sexual behavior were assessed in seventh grade, ship of rap music content;
whereas sexual initiation was assessed in ninth grade. Univariate, multivariate, and mediation rather, interventionists
analyses were conducted. should consider using rap
Results: At baseline, rap music use was significantly associated with race/ethnicity, parental music music to improve the cul-
rules, and sexual behavior, but not with gender or parental education. Rap music use was a sig- tural relevance of current
nificant predictor of sexual initiation on univariate analysis but not multivariate analysis. Media- sexual health education
tion analysis showed that the association between hours spent listening to rap music and sexual programs.
initiation was significantly mediated by perceived peer sexual behavior.
Conclusions: Rap music use in early adolescence significantly impacts sexual initiation in late
adolescence, partially mediated by perceived peer sexual behavior. More research is needed to
understand how rap music influences perceptions of peer sexual behavior, which, in turn, influ-
ence early sexual initiation.
Ó 2016 Society for Adolescent Health and Medicine. All rights reserved.

Ethnic minority youth (black and Hispanic) initiate sex at an sex early, ethnic minority youth express greater pressure to
earlier age than youth from other racial/ethnic groups [1], putting conform to sexual norms than white youth [5,6] and cite media as
them at risk for multiple negative sexual health outcomes, such as the source of sexual pressure (National Campaign, 2012). Ethnic
HIV, sexually transmitted infection (STI), and unplanned preg- minority youth consume a substantial amount of media including
nancy [2e4]. Although all youth experience pressure to initiate music, predominantly rap music [7,8]; most of which contains
sexually explicit content [9e11]. Research shows that sexually
explicit mediadmedia with extreme and/or subtle references to
* Address correspondence to: Kimberly A. Johnson-Baker, Dr.P.H., Center for
Health Prevention and Promotion Research, University of Texas School of Public
permissive sexual behaviordimpact sexual behavior among
Health, University of Texas Health Science Center, 7000 Fannin St., Houston, TX youth [10e18] and that rap music is more likely than other pop-
E-mail address: Kimberly.Johnson@uth.tmc.edu (K.A. Johnson-Baker). ular music genres (e.g., pop, rock) to contain sexually explicit

1054-139X/Ó 2016 Society for Adolescent Health and Medicine. All rights reserved.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jadohealth.2015.11.003
318 K.A. Johnson-Baker et al. / Journal of Adolescent Health 58 (2016) 317e322

content [9,11,18]. Moreover, high exposure to rap music has been assent, and data collector training, was followed [26]. Students
shown to be associated with less parental monitoring, permissive completed computer-assisted surveys on laptops while being
sexual attitudes, multiple sexual partnering, and STI acquisition monitored by trained data collectors. For their participation, stu-
[11,18e20]. However, previous research is limited to cross- dents received monetary incentives at each time point. This study
sectional studies [18,21] or to studies with older adolescents was approved by the institutional review board of The University
[17,19]. Furthermore, it is unknown whether rap music use im- of Texas Health Science Center at Houston. Additional details
pacts early sexual initiation, a predictor of subsequent risky sexual about the RCT are provided elsewhere [26].
behavior [20], and, if so, which factors mediate this impact. Thus,
more research is needed to understand the impact of rap music on Measures
ethnic minority youth who listen to a higher amount of such
music than do white youth [7,8]. Independent variable
Social cognitive theory provides a theoretical basis for investi- Rap music use. We used a single item to measure rap music use
gating the relationship between rap music and sexual behavior. at baseline (seventh grade). Students were asked, “In a usual day,
According to social cognitive theory, children learn vicariously from how many hours do you listen to rap or hip hop?” Responses
media and are more likely to translate learning into behavior when included “I do not listen to rap music,” “Less than an hour a day,”
(1) the role model is similar to the viewer in gender or ethnicity; (2) “1e2 hours a day,” “3e4 hours a day,” “5e6 hours a day,” and “7
the behavior is perceived to be similar to real life; (3) the role model or more hours a day.” Responses were recoded as “I do not listen
is attractive; and (4) the behavior is positively reinforced [22]. to rap music” (0 ¼ “no use”), “Less than 2 hours a day” (1 ¼ “low
Through observational learning and modeling, adolescents may use”), and “3 or more hours a day” (2 ¼ “high use”).
develop attitudes and beliefs that support the role model’s behavior
[22], which, in turn, may influence their decision-making when in Dependent variable
sexual possibility situations. This study assumed that through the Sexual initiation. We assessed sexual initiation at 18-month
use of rap music, adolescents (1) identify with rap music artists; (2) follow-up (ninth grade). Sexual initiation was defined as “ever
believe that sexual behavior is acceptable and reinforced in peer having any sex” (i.e., vaginal, oral, or anal sex). Only those stu-
groups; and ultimately (3) act on the learned behavior when the dents who reported “no sex” at baseline were included in the
opportunity is available. However, a greater understanding of how longitudinal analysis.
rap music influences adolescent sexual initiation is warranted. A
possible mechanism underlying the relationship between rap mu- Mediator variable
sic and sexual behavior is the influence of perceived peer behavior. Perceived peer sexual behavior. We used a single item to assess
Perceived peer behavior, the belief that one’s peer group is sexually perceived peer sexual behavior at baseline (seventh grade). Stu-
active, is a consistent predictor of early sexual initiation regardless of dents were asked, “How many of your friends have had vaginal
socioeconomic status, neighborhood contextual factors, parental sex?” Responses ranged from “none” (0) to “most” (3). Higher
characteristics, intention, and self-efficacy [23e26]. Furthermore, scores represented higher perceived sexual activity among friends.
sexually explicit media have been shown to function as a “super
peer” for youth seeking guidance on sexual behavior [27], sug- Covariates
gesting that media play a crucial role in setting norms for sexual
behavior. To our knowledge, no study has examined the potential Several variables known to influence both the independent
mediating role of perceived peer sexual behavior in the relationship and dependent variables were included as covariates. Covariates
between rap music use and sexual initiation. included gender, race/ethnicity, age, parental education, and
In this study, we investigated the longitudinal relationship be- parental monitoring. To assess parental monitoring, we included
tween hours spent listening to rap music in seventh grade and a measure of parental music rules. Students were asked, “Do you
sexual initiation in ninth grade, while controlling for significant have rules in your house about the kinds of music that you listen
covariates. We also examined the role of perceived peer sexual to?” Responses included “no” (0) and “yes” (1).
behavior as a potential mediator of this relationship among urban,
ethnic minority youth. We hypothesized that seventh-grade youth Statistical analysis
who listened to more hours of rap music are more likely than those
who listened to fewer hours of rap music or none to initiate sex by Bivariate correlational analyses were used to examine the
ninth grade and that perceived peer sexual behavior mediates the relationships between rap music use, perceived peer sexual
relationship between rap music use and sexual initiation. behavior, and covariates. Chi-square analyses were performed to
assess subgroup differences among these variables. Logistic
Methods regression was conducted to examine the relationship between
hours spent listening to rap music per day at baseline and any
Sample and study design engagement in sexual activity at 18-month follow-up. The pri-
mary independent variable of interest was the number of hours
We used longitudinal data from a school-based randomized spent listening to rap music per day. All data were analyzed using
controlled trial (RCT) that evaluated the effectiveness of a middle- PASW Statistics 18 (IBM Corp., Armonk, NY).
school sexual health education curriculum in a large southern U.S. Steps outlined by Baron and Kenny [29e31] were used to test
city [28]. We analyzed data collected at baseline (n ¼ 726) and at the mediational relationship between rap music use, perceived
18-month follow-up (n ¼ 509 for univariate analysis, n ¼ 443 for peer sexual behavior, and sexual initiation. The conceptual model
multivariate and mediational analyses) from control group par- of the mediation is presented in Figure 1. First, a regression
ticipants to avoid any interference from the intervention. For the analysis was conducted to determine if rap music use was a pre-
RCT, a standardized protocol including parental consent, student dictor of perceived peer sexual behavior (pathway a in Figure 1).
K.A. Johnson-Baker et al. / Journal of Adolescent Health 58 (2016) 317e322 319

parents did not have rules about the type of music they could
listen to (72%). Finally, most students perceived that their peers
had not had sex (62%), and most had not had any sex (88%).
Baseline characteristics by rap music use for the sample are
presented in Table 2. Rap music use was not significantly associ-
ated with gender or parental education; however, it was signifi-
cantly associated with race/ethnicity, parental music rules,
perceived peer sexual behavior, and sexual behavior. In terms of
race/ethnicity, black students were more likely than Hispanic
Figure 1. Representation of the mediation model. students to report listening to 3 or more hours of rap music per
day (c2 ¼ 50.1, p < .000). For parental music rules, high-use stu-
dents were more likely than low-use and no-use students to
Second, a regression analysis was conducted to determine the report not having parental music rules (c2 ¼ 16.8, p ¼ .004). In
effect of perceived peer sexual behavior on sexual initiation terms of perceived peer sexual behavior, high-use students were
(pathway b in Figure 1), while controlling for rap music use. more likely than low-use and no-use students to report that their
Third, a regression analysis was conducted to determine if rap friends had had any sex (c2 ¼ 40.3, p < .000). Finally, in terms of
music use was a significant predictor of sexual initiation, while sexual behavior, high-use students were more likely than low-use
controlling for perceived peer sexual behavior (pathway c in and no-use students to report having had sex (c2 ¼ 15.5, p < .000).
Figure 1). Significance testing to determine partial mediation Multivariate logistic regression analysis was conducted to
was completed using the Sobel test [32]. Students who reported examine the association between rap music use in seventh
any sexual behavior at baseline, and those with missing data on grade and sexual initiation in ninth grade. Univariate analysis
priority variables, were excluded from the analyses, resulting in was first performed with baseline variables previously associ-
an analytic sample of 445 students. ated with sexual initiation to identify explanatory variables for
multivariate logistic regression; variables found to be significant
Results at the p < .20 level were then selected as candidates for
multivariate logistic regression analysis. Only students who
Baseline characteristics for the sample are presented in Table 1. reported no sex at baseline were included in the regression
The sample had a mean age of 13 years (standard deviation ¼ .60), analysis. Of these, those with a valid response at 18-month
was mostly female (56%), and was predominantly ethnic minority follow-up were included in the univariate analysis (n ¼ 509).
(42% Hispanic and 40% black). Most students reported rap music The multivariate analysis was restricted to students with a valid
use; of these, 69% listened to 3 or more hours per day (high use), response for each variable included in the model (n ¼ 443). The
17% listened to <2 hours per day (low use), and <10% did not full model was significant (c2 ¼ 53.062, df ¼ 9, p < .000) and
listen to rap music (no use). Most students reported that their correctly classified 79.5% of students. Results of the univariate

Table 2
Table 1
Baseline characteristics by rap music use
Baseline characteristics of final analytic sample (n ¼ 443)a
Variable na Rap music use, % (n)
Characteristic %
No use Low use High use
Age, M (standard deviation) 12.95 (.49)
Gender Overall 726 9.6 (73) 16.9 (128) 69.3 (525)
Male 36.8 Gender 726
Female 63.2 Male 41.1 (30) 43.0 (55) 42.5 (223)
Race/ethnicity Female 58.9 (43) 57.0 (73) 57.5 (302)
Black 38.4 Race/ethnicity** 726
Hispanic 45.6 Black 6.8 (5) 29.7 (38) 47.0 (247)
Otherb 16.0 Hispanic 65.8 (48) 50.8 (65) 33.1 (200)
Maximum parent education Otherb 27.4 (20) 19.5 (25) 14.9 (78)
Did not graduate high school 29.6 Maximum parent education 691
High school graduate 22.6 Did not graduate high school 28.2 (20) 36.1 (43) 25.7 (129)
Some college 17.6 High-school graduate 21.1 (15) 21.8 (26) 23.6 (118)
College graduate 30.2 Some college 14.1 (10) 13.4 (16) 19.2 (96)
Rap music use College graduate 36.6 (26) 28.6 (34) 31.5 (158)
No use 11.7 Parent has music rules** 723
<2 hours per day 18.7 Yes 38.9 (28) 39.1 (50) 23.7 (124)
3 hours per day 69.5 No 61.1 (44) 60.9 (78) 76.3 (399)
Parent has music rules Perceived peer sexual behavior** 693
Yes 28.7 None 88.4 (61) 74.4 (87) 56.0 (284)
No 71.3 Few 8.7 (6) 18.8 (22) 23.1 (117)
Perceived peer sexual behavior Some 1.4 (1) 2.6 (3) 11.8 (60)
None 70.2 Most 1.4 (1) 4.3 (5) 9.1 (46)
Few 19.9 Has had any sex** 724
Some 6.1 Yes 2.7 (2) 4.7 (6) 14.3 (75)
Most 3.8 No 97.3 (71) 95.3 (122) 85.7 (448)
a a
Sample was limited to those who did not have sex at baseline; thus, no data Only includes participants with data available on selected variables.
b
for baseline sexual behavior are reported. White, Asian/Pacific Island, and Native American.
b
White, Asian/Pacific Island, and Native American. ** p < .000.
320 K.A. Johnson-Baker et al. / Journal of Adolescent Health 58 (2016) 317e322

and multivariate analyses are presented in Table 3. After Table 4


adjusting for covariates, neither low rap music use (odds ratio Results of mediation analysis

[OR] ¼ 1.181; 95% confidence interval [95% CI] ¼ .46e3.01; p ¼ Pathway Analysis b p
.727) nor high rap music use (OR ¼ 2.231; 95% CI ¼ .99e5.03; c Rap music use / sexual initiation .614 .000
p ¼ .053) significantly predicted sexual initiation, compared a Rap music use / perceived peer behavior .227 .000
with no use of rap music. However, the findings for the rela- b Perceived peer sexual behavior / sexual initiationa .847 .000
c’ Rap music use / sexual initiationb .452 .012
tionship between high rap music use and sexual initiation did
approach statistical significance. Gender (OR ¼ 1.962; 95% CI ¼ a
Controlled for rap music use.
b
1.26e3.04; p ¼ .003), age (OR ¼ 1.813; 95% CI ¼ 1.18e2.79; Controlled for perceived peer sexual behavior.
p ¼.007), and perceived peer sexual behavior (OR ¼ 2.03; 95%
CI ¼ 1.44e2.86; p ¼.000) remained significant predictors in the peer sexual behavior. Rap music use was significantly associated
full model. Interaction terms for perceived peer sexual behavior with sexual initiation on univariate analysis but not on multi-
and rap music use were not significant (p ¼ .828). variate analysis; however, this relationship did approach signif-
Mediation analysis was conducted to determine if perceived icance. This could be attributed to the effect of perceived peer
peer sexual behavior mediated the relationship between rap sexual behavior on sexual initiation. On mediation analysis,
music use and sexual initiation. The standardized regression perceived peer behavior was found to partially mediate the
coefficient between hours spent listening to rap music and sex- relationship between rap music use and sexual initiation.
ual initiation decreased substantially when controlling for Moreover, this finding suggests that listening to rap music does
perceived peer sexual behavior (Table 4). The other conditions of not directly influence sexual initiation. Instead, youth who listen
mediation were also met: Hours spent listening to rap music to high amounts of rap music may be more likely than those who
significantly predicted (1) sexual initiation (b ¼ .227, p ¼ .000); listen to low amounts of rap music or no rap music to believe that
(2) perceived peer sexual behavior (b ¼ .847, p ¼ .000); and (3) their peers are sexually active, which, in turn, may increase their
perceived peer sexual behavior significantly predicted sexual likelihood of initiating sex. In addition, although rap music use
initiation when controlling for hours spent listening to rap music was not significant in the full model, mediation analysis is still
(b ¼ .452, p ¼ .012). The Sobel test indicated that the association plausible because establishing full mediation was not our intent.
between hours spent listening to rap music and sexual initiation This partial mediation was found to be distal suggesting that
was partially mediated by perceived peer sexual behavior (z ¼ additional variables or competing variables that should be
4.46, p < .000). investigated [33]. This study establishes a foundation for the
need to investigate a multiple mediation model to further
explain the relationship between rap music use, perceived peer
Discussion behavior, and sexual initiation.
At baseline, perceived peer sexual behavior was significantly
To our knowledge, this is the first study to investigate the associated with rap music use. Specifically, students who
longitudinal relationship between rap music use and sexual listened to high amounts of rap music were more likely than
initiation and to examine the role of perceived peer sexual those who listened to low amounts of rap music or no rap music
behavior as a potential mediator of this relationship. Overall, as to believe that their peers were sexually active, and the per-
hypothesized, we found that high use of rap music in seventh centage of students who believed that their peers were sexually
grade is significantly associated with sexual initiation in ninth active increased as the use of rap music increased. This finding
grade and that this association is partially mediated by perceived may be due to rap music acting as a super peer for youth seeking
guidance on sexual behavior [14]. Based on this theorized
Table 3
mechanism, youth who listen to high amounts of rap music may
Univariate and multivariate analyses of variables at baselinea (seventh grade) personally identify with rap music culture and thus may be
predicting sexual initiation at 18-month follow-up (ninth grade) more likely to be influenced by its sexualized messages because
Variable Univariate Multivariate (n ¼ 443) they are either seeking peer approval of sexual behavior or
feeling pressure to conform to perceived sexual behavior within
nb Odds 95% p Odds 95% p
ratio confidence ratio confidence their peer networks. Furthermore, ethnic minority youth may
interval interval be more likely to identify with rap music imagery and to
Hours spent listening 490
perceive cultural messages about sex as truth, especially if there
to rap musicc are no alternative messages reflecting healthy sexual behavior
Low use 1.07 .46e2.49 .883 1.18 .46e3.01 .727 [34]. Additional longitudinal studies are needed to determine
High use 2.63 1.28e5.39 .009 2.23 .99e5.03 .053 the direction of the association between rap music use and
Genderd 509 1.57 1.01e2.31 .022 1.96 1.26e3.04 .003
perceived peer sexual behavior.
Race/ethnicitye 509
Black 1.39 .78e2.46 .266 1.02 .53e1.95 .960 At baseline, students who listened to more rap music differed
Hispanic 1.05 .60e1.85 .859 .89 .43e1.83 .752 significantly from those who listened to less or no rap music. For
Age at baseline 505 1.70 1.17e2.48 .006 1.81 1.18e2.79 .007 instance, high-use students were more likely than low-use and
Parent maximum 484 .93 .80e1.1 .394 .92 .74e1.15 .484 no-use students to be sexually active at baseline during the sev-
education
Perceived peer 477 2.56 1.86e3.51 .000 2.03 1.44e2.86 .000
enth grade. Although only 12% of students were sexually active
sexual behavior at baseline, the proportion of students who had initiated sex
increased as rap music use increased. Because this particular
Referent groups: cNo use, dFemale, and eOther (White, Asian/Pacific Island, and
Native American).
relationship is cross-sectional, the direction of the effect remains
a
Sample limited to those who reported “no sex” at baseline. unknown. Compared with high-use students, low-use and no-use
b
Only includes participants with data available on selected variables. students were mostly Hispanic, overwhelmingly believed that
K.A. Johnson-Baker et al. / Journal of Adolescent Health 58 (2016) 317e322 321

their peers were not sexually active, and were more likely to have initiation in late adolescence but that the strength of this associ-
parental music rules. In terms of race/ethnicity, rap music use ation decreases considerably when age, gender, and perceived
differed significantly between Hispanic and black students; black peer behavior are taken into account. In addition, we found that
students were more likely than Hispanic students to listen to 3 or this association is partially mediated by perceived peer sexual
more hours of rap music per day. This finding is inconsistent with behavior. These findings have important implications for sexual
previous findings indicating equal usage rates of rap music among health interventions and future research. Adolescent experiences
students from different racial/ethnic backgrounds [7,8]. It is un- sexual development in a complex environment where individual
clear why black students consumed more rap music than Hispanic (e.g., impulsivity, self-efficacy, early pubertal onset, perceived peer
students. Whether black youth are more likely than other ethnic norms), interpersonal (e.g., infrequent parental monitoring);
minority youth to identify with, seek out, and be influenced by rap community (e.g., STI rates, neighborhood trauma), and societal
music culture because of the abundance of cultural imagery and (e.g., permissive norms, race, and gender) factors all influence
stereotypes warrants further study. In terms of parental music their sexual behavior trajectory [20,23,25]. It is understandable
rules, more than two thirds of the sample reported not having that ethnic minority youth are more likely to initiate sex early due
parental rules about the type of music they could listen to. to the fact that they are more likely to experience the aforemen-
Parental music rules were inversely related to rap music use; the tioned factors [20]. Intervening on several social determinants is
percentage of students who had parental music rules decreased as desirable but less feasible. Therefore, addressing perceived peer
rap music use increased. Monitoring the music use of contem- behavior may prove to be a more achievable goal in the interim as
porary youth is highly challenging; however, such efforts are public health professionals work to develop and evaluate long-
needed because parents who have clear rules about the type and term multilevel interventions to improve adolescent sexual
amount of music their youth can listen to may help to limit their behavior. Rap music and forms of progressive hip-hop education
exposure to music with sexually explicit content. Parental moni- could be used as tools to deconstruct sexually explicit messages
toring of media use has been found to be associated with positive adolescents receive. Parents can play a more proactive role by
outcomes among adolescents [35]. However, additional research having open conversations with youth regarding sexually explicit
is warranted because less is known about the relationship be- themes in rap music while setting clear expectations for respon-
tween parental music rules and sexually explicit media use, spe- sible sexual and dating behavior. Interventionists and program
cifically rap music [19]. developers should consider adapting current adolescent sexual
This study has some limitations. First, because the sample was health programs by providing youth opportunities to simulta-
composed of mostly urban, ethnic minority youth, the findings neously challenge permissive sexual norms in rap music and
are generalizable only to minority adolescent populations in misperceptions about peer sexual behavior.
large urban areas. Second, the sample was not large enough to
allow us to examine differences by gender and race/ethnicity;
thus, the extent to which gender and race/ethnicity affect the References
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