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APHA Scientific Session and Event Listing

Felicia Yang, Policy Analysis and Management, Cornell University, 435 MVR Hall, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY 14853, 607-229-0134, fty2@cornell.edu

This study examines predictors of sexual risk-taking behavior and fertility among first and second generation adolescent immigrants in the United States using data from the National Longitudinal Study of Youth 1997 (NLSY97), the National Education Longitudinal Study (NELS88), and the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health (Add Health). Using discrete time logistic survival models and Poisson regression, the influence of demographic, socioeconomic, and policy factors on immigrant adolescent fertility (as measured by early births) and risk behavior (as measured by age at first sex, number of sexual partners, and contraceptive use and incidence of unprotected sex) is estimated. Particular attention is given to the role of immigrant-specific factors such as citizenship and immigration status, length of residence in the United States, language background, and public policy explicit to immigrants. Factors that affect the fertility and risk behavior of all adolescents but differ in significant ways for immigrants (such as family structure, parenting style, and community context) will be examined as well. The analysis will focus on both the role of such factors in predicting sexual behavior and fertility among immigrants as well as the interaction between immigrant-specific characteristics and the demographic, socioeconomic, and policy factors commonly expected to influence adolescents in general. Differences in outcomes between male and female immigrants and across generations of immigrant adolescents will be explored as well. By using multiple data sets collected at different points in time, differences both within and across cohorts of immigrant adolescents can be explored.

Learning Objectives: Attending this session will enable the learner to

• Describe social, economic, demographic, and other immigrant-specific factors that predict fertility and sexual risk behaviors among adolescent immigrants.
  
• Understand the effect of public policy and other factors on the fertility and sexual behaviors of adolescent immigrants.
  
• Discuss the early fertility and risky behavior of immigrants in an epidemiological context.

Keywords: Adolescent Health, Immigrants

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

Not Answered