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
. 2014 Nov;55(5):698-704.
doi: 10.1016/j.jadohealth.2014.05.005. Epub 2014 Jun 25.

Socioeconomic-related risk and sexually transmitted infection among African-American adolescent females

Jessica M Sales  1 , Erica L Smearman  2 , Andrea Swartzendruber  3 , Jennifer L Brown  4 , Gene Brody  5 , Ralph J DiClemente  5
Affiliations

Socioeconomic-related risk and sexually transmitted infection among African-American adolescent females

Jessica M Sales et al. J Adolesc Health. 2014 Nov.

Abstract

Purpose: Virtually no studies have examined the potential role that chronic stress, particularly the stress associated with socioeconomic status (SES) strain, may play on sexually transmitted infection (STI) risk. This study examined the association between SES-related risk at baseline to STI acquisition and reinfection over 36 months of follow-up.

Methods: Six hundred twenty-seven African-American female adolescents, ages 14-20 years, recruited from sexual health clinics in Atlanta, GA, participated in a randomized controlled HIV prevention trial and returned for at least one follow-up assessment. Following baseline assessment, six waves of data collection occurred prospectively over 36 months. Chronic SES-related risk was assessed as a sum of yes-no exposure to seven risk indicators. Laboratory-confirmed tests for Chlamydia trachomatis and Neisseria gonorrhoeae were performed at each follow-up.

Results: In multivariable regression analysis, SES-related risk significantly predicted STI acquisition over 36 months (adjusted odds ratio = 1.22) and STI reinfection (adjusted odds ratio = 1.16) above and beyond other known correlates of STI.

Conclusions: Findings demonstrate that SES-related risk was predictive of both STI acquisition and reinfection among young African-American females. They are consistent with propositions that some health disparities observed in adulthood may be linked to earlier chronically stress-inducing life experiences, particularly experiences associated with low SES conditions. Although various explanations exist for the observed connection between SES-related risk and subsequent STI acquisition and/or reinfection across 36 months of follow-up, these findings highlight the need for further research to elucidate the exact pathway(s) by which SES-related risk influences later STI acquisition to refine STI prevention interventions for this population.

Keywords: Adolescents; African-American; Females; SES; STIs; Stress.

PubMed Disclaimer

References

    1. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention CDC. Sexually Transmitted Disease Surveillance, 2010. Atlanta, GA: US: Department of Health and Human Services; 2011.
    1. Forhan SE, Gottlieb SL, Sternberg MR, Xu F, Datta SD, McQuillan GM, Berman SM, Markowitz LE. Prevalence of sexually transmitted infections among female adolescents aged 14 to 19 in the United States. Pediatrics. 2009 Dec;124(6):1505–12. doi: 10.1542/peds.2009-0674. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Sexually transmitted disease surveillance 2011. Atlanta: Department of Health and Human Services; 2012.
    1. Sales JM, Brown JL, DiClemente RJ, Latham TP, Kottke MJ, Rose E. Age differences in STDs, Sexual Behaviors, and Correlates of Risky Sexual Behavior Among Sexually Experienced Adolescent African-American Females. Journal of Pediatric Psychology. 2012;37(1):33–42. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Berman SM, Hein K. Adolescents and STDs. In: Holmes KK, Sparling P, Mardh P, editors. Sexually Transmitted Diseases. New York, NY: McGraw-Hill; 2008. pp. 129–142.

Publication types