Several studies indicate that strong parent-adolescent emotional connections and participating in shared activities with parents are associated with later adolescent sexual debut and a lower likelihood of pregnancy, among males and females and multiple racial/ethnic groups (Bearman & Bruckner, 1999; Miller, Norton, et al., 1997; Resnick et al., 1997; Smith, 1997). Alternatively, adolescents with negative feelings towards their parents were more likely to have an early age of sexual debut. The benefits of parent-child ties seem to operate even through peer connections. Even if an adolescent did not have a good relationship with her own parents, if her friends had close connections with their parents, she was only half as likely to experience sexual debut (Bearman & Bruckner, 1999). Both perceived maternal disapproval of premarital sex and a high level of satisfaction with the mother-adolescent relationship are associated with delayed sexual initiation, increased contraceptive use, less frequent sexual intercourse and a lower likelihood of pregnancy (Dittus & Jaccard, 2000; Jaccard, Dittus, & Gordon, 1996).