Factors associated with AIDS risk behaviors among high school students in an AIDS epicenter.

Abstract

BACKGROUND. A greater understanding of the determinants of risky behaviors is an essential precursor to the development of successful AIDS prevention programs for adolescents. METHODS. A survey measuring AIDS-related behaviors, beliefs, and knowledge was administered to a sample of 531 10th-grade students residing in an AIDS epicenter. RESULTS. Of the 56.8% of students reporting past-year involvement in sexual intercourse, 67.3% reported unprotected intercourse with low-risk partners, 1.3% reported unprotected intercourse with high-risk partners, and 6.6% reported a past-year history of a sexually transmitted disease. Students whose friends had intercourse and never or inconsistently used condoms, who personally sanctioned intercourse involvement, who believed that the majority of their peers had intercourse, and who perceived low preventive action self-efficacy, were 5.1, 3.0, 2.1, 3.7, and 2.8 times more likely, respectively, to score in the riskier categories of an AIDS behavior index. CONCLUSIONS. These findings suggest that addressing socioenvironmental influences on risky and preventive behaviors may prove to be the most effective AIDS prevention strategy among adolescents.

Renewing HIV Prevention Efforts among Youth

“…Individuals aremorelikely to engage in AIDS riskbehaviors if theyperceive that their peers are engaging in this type of behavior (Auerbach & Coates, 2000;DiClemente, 1991;Walter et al,1992). The health practitioner can help individuals determine whatpeers in the social network feel aboutthelatestHIVtreatments, aswell astheirlevel of riskbehavior.…”

Is Everybody Doing It? Perceptions and Misperceptions of Sexual Behavior in the College Freshman Population

“…They found that both men and women perceived their best friend's oral sex behavior to be similar to their own but found no relationship with sexual intercourse. Prior research on the referent self in comparison with perceptions of close friends has been explored in areas such as health and social status [52] and AIDS risk behaviors [50]. These studies demonstrated that participants differentiated between their close friends and the typical person, believing that their close friends were more similar to themselves than the average person.…”

The Reliability and Validity of a Group-Based Measure of Adolescents' Friendship Closeness

“…For example, adolescent cigarette, alcohol, and marijuana use is related to that of friends and potential friends (Aloise-Young, Graham, & Hansen, 1994;Dembo, Farrow, Schmeidler, & Burgos, 1979;Hartford, 1985;Urberg, Degirmencioglu, & Pilgrim, 1997). Similarly, researchers have found that youths' sexual behaviors are linked to the norms and behaviors of their peers and friends (Dolcini & Adler, 1994;Morrison, Baker, & Gillmore, 1998;Prinstein, Meade, & Cohen, 2003;Walter et al, 1992), and that youth tend to be similar to their friends with respect to sexual behaviors, expectations, and feelings (Billy, Rodgers, & Udry, 1984).…”