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- Title
Racial/Ethnic Differences in Patterns of Sexual Risk Behavior and Rates of Sexually Transmitted Infections Among Female Young Adults.
- Authors
Pflieger, Jacqueline C.; Cook, Emily C.; Niccolai, Linda M.; Connell, Christian M.
- Abstract
Objectives. We examined patterns of sexual behavior and risk for sexually transmitted infections (STIs) in young adulthood for Black, Hispanic, and White females. Methods. We used a nationally representative sample of 7015 female young adults from Wave III of the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health. Sexual risk items assessed behaviors occurring in the previous 6 years and past year to determine classes of sexual risk and links to STIs in young adulthood. Results. Latent class analysis revealed 3 sexual risk classes for Black and Hispanic youths and 4 sexual risk classes for White youths. The moderate and high risk classes had the highest probabilities of risky sexual partners, inconsistent condom use, and early age of sexual initiation, which significantly increased odds for STIs compared with recent abstainers. Conclusions. We found different classes of sexual behavior by race/ethnicity, with Black and Hispanic young women most at risk for STIs in young adulthood. Preventive efforts should target younger adolescents and focus on sexual partner behavior.
- Subjects
UNITED States; SEXUALLY transmitted disease risk factors; AMERICAN women; AGE factors in disease; BLACK people; COMPARATIVE studies; CONDOMS; CONFIDENCE intervals; EPIDEMIOLOGY; ETHNIC groups; HISPANIC Americans; LATENT structure analysis; LONGITUDINAL method; PROBABILITY theory; RESEARCH funding; RISK-taking behavior; SEXUAL abstinence; WHITE people; DATA analysis; SECONDARY analysis; RETROSPECTIVE studies; SEXUAL partners; DESCRIPTIVE statistics
- Publication
American Journal of Public Health, 2013, Vol 103, Issue 5, p903
- ISSN
0090-0036
- Publication type
Article
- DOI
10.2105/AJPH.2012.301005