The relationship between sexual sensation seeking and sexual risk taking has been investigated among adult populations. There are limited data, however, regarding this relationship for adolescents. Since African-American adolescent females continue to be disproportionately diagnosed with STDs, including HIV, we examined this association among a clinic-based sample of African-American adolescent females (N ¼ 715) enrolled in an STD/HIV prevention intervention. Participants (ages 15-21) endorsing higher

This study sought to determine the perspective taken toward understanding adolescent sexual risk behaviors and related biological outcomes (i.e. pregnancy, sexually transmitted diseases) since 1990. We content analyzed 324 abstracts representing observational research published between January 1990 and December 2007 for inclusion of ecological (environmental) factors, level of analysis, sample composition and type of behavioral and biological outcomes. A majority (95%) of studies included individual characteristics; half were void of any environmental factors. Of those including environmental factors, 27% included familial, 23% community, 13% relational and 3% societal factors. Most (80%) were positioned at the individual level of analysis. Samples were diverse (43%) and of mixed gender (71%). Biomarkers of sexually transmitted diseases (7.5%) or pregnancy outcomes (2%) were rare. Ecological inclusion was not related to year of publication. Despite the rhetoric highlighting, the importance of an ecological perspective in understanding adolescent sexual risk behavior, much published research, excludes environmental influences.

Consistent and proper use of condoms has been found to be effective in preventing HIV transmission and other sexually transmitted diseases. We examined the predictors of condom use and knowledge of partner’s HIV status among 731 HIV-positive individuals who had sex in the past six months. Data are from an incoming service form administered to clients who visited the Muhimbili University College of Health Sciences’ Voluntary Counseling and Testing (VCT) site in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania between 1997–2008 (N=45,071). Sixteen percent reported always using a condom in the past six months. Multivariate logistic regression revealed that age, and knowledge of partner’s HIV status were the strongest predictors of consistent condom use. The risk of future HIV infections in this region remains high. Future efforts to prevent new HIV infections should aim to increase condom use, and prevention practices that facilitate HIV-positive individuals to communicate their HIV status with partners.

Despite the high rate of HIV infection among low-income African American women, research suggests that perceptions of HIV risk among this population are not elevated compared to other groups. It is evident that an individual’s subjective perception of risk is based on a multiplicity of both internal and external factors, including relationship context and cultural worldview. This study examines the contribution of cultural worldview to low-income African American women’s HIV risk perception. A hierarchical linear regression was conducted on a community sample of low-income African American women (N = 196). Results demonstrate that when partner infidelity was controlled, financial independence and interpersonal control were significant predictors of perceived HIV risk, with lack of power related to elevated levels of perceived risk. When relationship power and HIV knowledge were taken into account, cultural worldview was a significant negative predictor of perceived risk, with high levels of fatalism associated with low perceived risk. Findings suggest that knowledge alone is not enough to explain HIV risk perception. The role of cultural worldview must be taken into account.

Background Discrimination may be adversely associated with abdominal obesity, but few studies have examined associations with abdominal fat. Purpose The purpose of this study was to examine whether discrimination was independently associated with visceral (VAT) and subcutaneous (SAT) fat and whether these associations differed by sex and age. Methods Participants self-reported experiences of everyday and lifetime discrimination. The main reason for and the coping response to these experiences were also reported. VAT and SAT were quantified by computed tomography. Results In fully adjusted models, higher reports of everyday discrimination were associated with greater SAT, but not VAT, volumes in men only: SAT increased by 3.6 (standard error = 1.8)cm3 for each unit increase in the everyday discrimination score. In women, higher reports of lifetime non-racial discrimination were associated with greater VAT (71.6±32.0, P<0.05) and SAT (212.6±83.6, P<0.05), but these relationships were attenuated after controlling for body mass index. Conclusions These cross-sectional findings do not fully support the independent hypothesis of discrimination and abdominal fat. Additional investigations involving longitudinal designs are warranted.