The Opposite of Sex? Adolescents’ Thoughts About Abstinence and Sex, and Their Sexual Behavior

attitudes as the predictor and the other using sex attitudes. A third regression examined whether the interaction between abstinence attitudes and sex attitudes was a stronger predictor of sexual activity than either alone. Similarly, our hypothesis on the influence of teenagers’ intentions on having sex was tested in separate regressions for abstinence and sex intention, followed by a regression of the interaction of the two. Finally, we used logistic regression coefficients to calculate adolescents’ predicted probabilities of having sex based on each of the cognitive variables in turn and on the interaction of their abstinence and sex intentions; though less widely used than odds ratios, these probabilities are a more intuitive way of interpreting regression results.