IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/aph/ajpbhl/1994846977-985_5.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Social influences on the sexual behavior of youth at risk for HIV exposure

Author

Listed:
  • Romer, D.
  • Black, M.
  • Ricardo, I.
  • Feigelman, S.
  • Kaljee, L.
  • Galbraith, J.
  • Nesbit, R.
  • Hornik, R.C.
  • Stanton, B.

Abstract

Objectives. Adolescents are increasingly at risk for infection with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) and other sexually transmitted diseases, especially in poor urban minority communities. To aid the design of interventions in these communities, this study investigated the role of knowledge, attitudes, perceived parental monitoring, and peer behavior in the onset and progression of sexual behavior in children at risk for exposure to HIV. Methods. A computerized personal interview was administered to 300 African-American 9- to 15-year-old children living in six public housing developments in a large US city. Results. Although children's knowledge about the hazards of sex increased with age, their sexual activity also increased (from 12% sexually experienced at 9 years of age to more than 80% experienced at 15 years of age). Parental monitoring appeared able to influence sexual activity. However, the perceived behavior of friends was associated with the rate at which sexual activity progressed with age and the degree to which condom use was maintained with age. Conclusions. The early onset and prevalence of sexual behavior and the importance of peer group influence call for early interventions that simultaneously influence the parents and peers in children's social networks.

Suggested Citation

  • Romer, D. & Black, M. & Ricardo, I. & Feigelman, S. & Kaljee, L. & Galbraith, J. & Nesbit, R. & Hornik, R.C. & Stanton, B., 1994. "Social influences on the sexual behavior of youth at risk for HIV exposure," American Journal of Public Health, American Public Health Association, vol. 84(6), pages 977-985.
    • Handle: RePEc:aph:ajpbhl:1994:84:6:977-985_5
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    To our knowledge, this item is not available for download. To find whether it is available, there are three options:
    1. Check below whether another version of this item is available online.
    2. Check on the provider's web page whether it is in fact available.
    3. Perform a search for a similarly titled item that would be available.

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. James, Sigrid & Montgomery, Susanne B. & Leslie, Laurel K. & Zhang, Jinjin, 2009. "Sexual risk behaviors among youth in the child welfare system," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 31(9), pages 990-1000, September.
    2. Tran, Bach Xuan & Nguyen, Long Hoang & Vu, Giang Thu & Le, Huong Thi & Nguyen, Hinh Duc & Hoang, Vuong Quan & La, Phuong Viet & Hoang, Duc Anh & Van Dam, Nhue & Vuong, Thu Trang & Nguyen, Huong Lan Th, 2019. "Online peer influences are associated with receptiveness of youths: The case of Shisha in Vietnam," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 99(C), pages 18-22.
    3. Hill, L.M. & Moody, J. & Gottfredson, N.C. & Kajula, L.J. & Pence, B.W. & Go, V.F. & Maman, S., 2018. "Peer norms moderate the association between mental health and sexual risk behaviors among young men living in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 196(C), pages 77-85.
    4. Schneider, John A. & McFadden, Rachel B. & Laumann, Edward O. & Prem Kumar, S.G. & Gandham, Sabitha R. & Oruganti, Ganesh, 2012. "Candidate change agent identification among men at risk for HIV infection," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 75(7), pages 1192-1201.
    5. Olugbenga Ajilore, 2015. "Identifying peer effects using spatial analysis: the role of peers on risky sexual behavior," Review of Economics of the Household, Springer, vol. 13(3), pages 635-652, September.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:aph:ajpbhl:1994:84:6:977-985_5. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    We have no bibliographic references for this item. You can help adding them by using this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Christopher F Baum (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.apha.org .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.