Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2013 May;103(5):903-9.
doi: 10.2105/AJPH.2012.301005. Epub 2013 Mar 14.

Racial/ethnic differences in patterns of sexual risk behavior and rates of sexually transmitted infections among female young adults

Jacqueline C Pflieger  1 , Emily C Cook, Linda M Niccolai, Christian M Connell
Affiliations

Racial/ethnic differences in patterns of sexual risk behavior and rates of sexually transmitted infections among female young adults

Jacqueline C Pflieger et al. Am J Public Health. 2013 May.

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.

PubMed Disclaimer

References

    1. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention 2009 sexually transmitted disease surveillance. Available at: http://www.cdc.gov/std/stats09/default.htm. Published November 2010. Accessed July 13, 2011
    1. Fergus S, Zimmerman MA, Caldwell CH. Growth trajectories of sexual risk behavior in adolescence and young adulthood. Am J Public Health. 2007;97(6):1096–1101 - PMC - PubMed
    1. Beadnell B, Morrison DM, Wilsdon Aet al. Condom use, frequency of sex, and number of partners: multidimensional characterization of adolescent sexual risk-taking. J Sex Res. 2005;42(3):192–202 - PubMed
    1. Hallfors DD, Iritani BJ, Miller WCet al. Sexual and drug behavior patterns and HIV and STD racial disparities: the need for new directions. Am J Public Health. 2007;97(1):125–132 - PMC - PubMed
    1. Armour S, Haynie D. Adolescent sexual debut and later delinquency. J Youth Adolesc. 2007;36(2):141–152

Publication types

MeSH terms