Introduction: AIDS is a leading cause of death among young adults. Many HIV-positive young adults are likely to have been exposed during adolescence by engaging in unprotected intercourse. Effective global HIV-prevention efforts will depend on understanding common and unique factors influencing condom across adolescent populations. Crucial to prevention will be pinpointing social factors--interpersonal and familial--influencing "safe sex" among adolescents. Despite major strides made in HIV prevention, few studies have examined parental influences on youth condom use. This study examined both the immediate and longer-term effects of parental influence on adolescent condom use. Methods: The sample included 1077 unmarried, sexually-active youth (560 males, 517 females, 15-21 years old) from Waves I and II of the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health. Parent-related factors were parental monitoring, parent-child relationship, parental disapproval of youth sex. Logistic regression tested for the relative contributions of these predictors on condom use. Results: Controlling for gender and age, perceived parental disapproval of engaging in sexual behaviors (B=-.26, OR=.77, p<.001) significantly decreased condom use. Using structural equation modeling, tests of a multidimensional model predicting adolescent condom use revealed that this parental disapproval effect did not hold across time. Age and gender were significant predictors, with older youth and females more likely to use condoms. Conclusion: The results underscore important implications for prevention. Among sexually active youth, those perceiving higher parental disapproval of birth control were significantly less likely to use condoms. Paradoxically, parental messages intended to be protective, may increase AIDS risk among sexually active youth. See www.cpc.unc.edu/projects/addhealth/
Learning Objectives: After attending this session, the participants will be able to (1) Identify key factors known to influence condom use behavior among sexually active adolescents.(2) Describe key family context correlates and predictors of adolescent condom use behavior supported by current empirical research.(3) Identify the relative importance of selected indicators (parent-child relationship, parental disapproval of youth sex, parental monitoring) on adolescent condom use behavior. (4) Extrapolate from study results at least 3 key implications for public health prevention efforts in community and schools settings designed to increase condom use among sexually active youth, as generally recommended by Healthy People 2010.
Keywords: Condom Use, Adolescent Health
Awards: Excellence in Abstract Submission among Student APHA Members and Winner of the HIV/AIDS Section Student Scholarship - WinnerPresenting author's disclosure statement:
Organization/institution whose products or services will be discussed: None
I do not have any significant financial interest/arrangement or affiliation with any organization/institution whose products or services are being discussed in this session.