Purpose: To identify psychosocial and behavioral correlates of refusing unwanted intercourse among African American female adolescents. Methods: Data regarding demographics, sexual behaviors, and psychosocial factors relevant to romantic and sexual partnerships were collected via self-administered survey and structured interview from a clinic- and school-based sample of 522 African American adolescent females. Results: Of those who had experienced pressure for unwanted intercourse (n=366), 69% consistently refused to engage in unwanted sexual intercourse. Adolescents with high safer sex self-efficacy and low partner barriers to condom use over 2.5 times more likely to consistently refuse unwanted intercourse than were those reporting low safer-sex self-efficacy and high condom use barriers. Adolescents who spoke frequently with their parents about sexual issues were nearly twice as likely to consistently refuse unwanted intercourse than were those who spoke infrequently with their parents. Conclusions: Sexual risk reduction efforts directed toward adolescent females should seek to build self-efficacy to negotiate safer sex and provide training in social competency skills that may help to reduce or eliminate partner barriers to condom use. Further, sexual risk reduction programs may be more effective if they include parents as advocates of safer sexual behaviors. Such programs can assist adolescent females by helping them avoid unwanted sexual intercourse, and its adverse outcomes, sexually transmitted diseases, including HIV.
Learning Objectives: 1) Audience members will be able to identify correlates of female adolescents' consistent refusal to engage in unwanted sexual intercourse. 2) Audience members will be able to apply study findings to HIV/STD prevention programs targeting adolescent females
Keywords: Adolescents, Sexual Behavior
Presenting 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.