Risky sexual behavior is prevalent among adolescent African American females and could lead to serious consequences. There is limited updated research that studies the contributors of risky sexual behaviors among adolescent African American females. Therefore the purpose of this study was to understand how familial structure, socioeconomic status (SES), sexual abuse, self-esteem, extracurricular activity involvement, and parental monitoring can influence the sexual behaviors among adolescent African American females. The hypothesis was that the factors of the familial structure, socioeconomic status (SES), child sexual abuse, self-esteem, extracurricular activity involvement, and parental monitoring would predict risky sexual behaviors of adolescent African American females. The participants of this study are African American female college students at Northern Illinois University who are 18 years old or older. The sampling method was purposive, convenient, and non-probabilistic. Questionnaires were given out to 180 students enrolled in freshman English courses during class time and took 15–20 minutes for the students to complete. The hypothesis was tested using a stepwise regression analysis.

Child sexual abuse and SES during junior high school were found to predict risky sexual behaviors among the African American adolescent females within this study and supported this aspect of the hypothesis. However, familial structure, self-esteem, and extracurricular activity were not found as predictors of risky sexual behaviors for the African American adolescent females within this study. It was also found that increasing amounts of parental monitoring would predict risky sexual behaviors, therefore not supporting this aspect of the hypothesis that less parental monitoring would predict risky sexual behaviors. Limitations are explained. Implications of this study could lead to more preventative and therapeutic programs across various helping professions across the nation to help minimize the consequences of risky sexual behaviors among adolescent African American females.