ArticleAfrican-American sexual minority adolescents and sexual health disparities: An exploratory cross-sectional study
Section snippets
Method
This project recruited African-American adolescents aged 14–17 years from 4 U. S. cities (i.e., Macon, GA; Providence, RI; Columbia, SC; Syracuse, NY).20 The current analysis used data from the 18-month follow-up because several of the constructs were only assessed at this time point and long-term follow-up afforded the most opportunities for sexual debut to occur.
Results & discussion
Ninety-three females (10% of all females) and 37 males (6% of all males) reported sexual experience with male and female sexual partners.
Table 1 summarizes (a) the psychological antecedents of sexual risk behavior, (b) sexual risk behaviors, (c) HIV testing behaviors and concerns, and (d) STI diagnoses (self-reported and laboratory confirmed) as a function of gender and sexual minority status.
Discussion
Prior research has established that SMA are more likely to experience STIs and unintended pregnancies relative to heterosexual youth. Results from the current study provide empirical information that helps to explain these disparities by demonstrating that levels of sexual health knowledge, expectancies, implementation self-efficacy, and sexual risk behaviors differ by sexual minority status among African-American adolescents.
The current findings highlight that, even among an at-risk population
Acknowledgements
This work was supported by the National Institute of Mental Health [1U01MH066809-01A2].
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