Effects of Parental Monitoring and Knowledge on Substance Use and HIV Risk Behaviors Among Young Men Who have Sex with Men: Results from Three Studies

Abstract

Young men who have sex with men (YMSM) are disproportionately impacted by HIV/AIDS and have elevated rates of substance use. Parenting practices, such as knowledge of child whereabouts and monitoring of behavioral rules, protect against these outcomes among heterosexual youth. This article examined the relationship between these parenting practices and substance use and HIV risk behaviors among YMSM. Data are reported from three similar studies of YMSM: ChiGuys (ages 14-18), Crew 450 (ages 16-22), and RADAR (ages 16-29). The ChiGuys and RADAR studies report cross-sectional analyses, whereas Crew 450 reports latent growth curve analyses. In ChiGuys and Crew 450, participants reported significantly higher scores for parental knowledge of general activities than parental knowledge of gay-specific activities. Parental knowledge of general activities was significantly associated with less binge drinking in both samples and with condomless sex in the ChiGuys sample. Parental monitoring was significantly associated with less marijuana use and condomless sex in younger RADAR participants (16-18 years) and with less drug use in older participants (>18 years). Findings support the need for further research on the influences of parents on YMSM health risk behaviors and the value of exploring family- and parent-interventions to address YMSM health.

The Influence of Families on LGBTQ Youth Health: A Call to Action for Innovation in Research and Intervention Development

“…There is also a need to examine whether there are differences between sexual and/or gender identity groups in family influences on adolescent health, as most existing studies have focused on specific populations (e.g., young gay men) or LGBTQ youth as a whole. 10,13,[15][16][17][18][21][22][23][24]32,[34][35][36][37] Given the robust literature demonstrating the promotive effects of effective parenting on the health of cisgender heterosexual youth, 4 it is clear that the lack of literature on the influence of families on the health of LGBTQ youth is a major gap. If we hope to mitigate the vast health inequities experienced by these young people [1][2][3] by developing effective interventions and policies, it is imperative that we push this nascent field of research forward through innovative empirical research, including (but not limited to) longitudinal studies of diverse LGBTQ youth and their parents that track the influence of family factors on adolescent health over time.…”

“…5,6,8,9 Interestingly, findings are mixed for their relationship with health outcomes among LGBTQ youth specifically. Some studies find that monitoring and communication are negatively associated with sexual risk in young gay and bisexual men, 21,22 whereas other studies find positive associations. 23 This suggests that the influence of parenting practices on health is more complex for LGBTQ youth compared with cisgender heterosexual youth as the success of these strategies requires that parents are aware of, and at a minimum tolerate, their child's LGBTQ identity and/or gender expression and provide accurate health information tailored to their needs.…”

“…We first review the limited existing evidence in each identified priority area (where available), and then discuss promising avenues for future research and opportunities for innovation (see Table 1 for a summary of the main points described in the next sections). 5,6,[8][9][10][11][13][14][15][16][17][18][19][20][21][22][23][24][25][26][27][28][29][30][31][32] Family Support and Rejection…”

Predictors of correspondence between self-reported substance use and urinalysis screening among a racially diverse cohort of young men who have sex with men and transgender women

“…Using an accelerated longitudinal design [26], we recruited YMSM/TW from three previous studies, conducted in 2008, 2011, and 2015, as well as newly recruited individuals (also in 2015) to form the new RADAR cohort. This process has been described in detail elsewhere [27, 28]. Individuals were eligible for RADAR if they were 16–29 years old, were assigned male at birth, spoke English, and either reported a sexual encounter with a man in the previous year or identified as gay or bisexual.…”

The Influence of Health Promotion Media With Bimanesse Local Language on Parents and Their Families Understanding about Characteristic of Drug User

“…The significant role of parental knowledge to protect adolescents against negative behavior is supported by the results of research conducted by Cutrín, et al, 2017 where highly support of parent might be only effective in reducing antisocial behavior in adolescents if the level of parental knowledge is increased (Cutrín, Gómez-Fraguela and Sobral, 2017). The results of other related studies also show that parental knowledge about adolescent behavior is associated with drinking behavior in adolescents, where a high level of parental knowledge has a significant relationship with low drinking behavior in adolescents aged 14-18 years (Mustanski et al, 2017). Based on a number of the results of these studies, it can be a suggestion for parents to have sufficient knowledge about narcotics and illegal drugs, the ways and dangers of their abuse and how to characterize both the physical, emotional and behavior of a person abusing substance abusers.…”