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APHA Scientific Session and Event Listing

Lynn Roberts, PhD, Urban Public Health Program, Hunter College of City University of New York, 425 East 25th Street, Box 766, New York, NY 07666, 212-481-5110, lroberts@hunter.cuny.edu

Data were collected through surveys administered on laptop computers using Audio Computer Assisted Self Interviews with 184 African American and Latino/a students in an urban high school located in an HIV/AIDS epicenter. The authors hypothesized that youth who experience more oppression and who report more dating violence will also report more sexual risk taking. The authors will discuss survey results, examining patterns among variables such as sexual risk behavior, experienced race, class and gender discrimination, dating violence, and awareness of social disparities. The authors will also briefly discuss their piloting of a prevention curriculum, Sista II Brotha, designed to increase awareness of structural oppression and violence against women.

Experienced race discrimination was positively correlated with having engaged in anal sex (r=.205, p<.05), oral sex (r=.190, p<.05) and any sexual behavior (i.e., oral, anal or vaginal) (r=.214, p<.05); with being a victim of dating abuse (r=.245, p<.01); and with being a perpetrator of dating abuse (r=.357, p<.01). Experienced gender discrimination was positively correlated with having had oral sex (r=.192, p<.05) and with perpetrating dating abuse (r=.184, p<.05). Experienced class discrimination was correlated with having engaged in oral sex (r=.170, p<.05). This study represents the first time that a link between experienced discrimination based on race, class and gender, sexual behavior, and dating violence among adolescents has been established.

Learning Objectives: At the conclusion of the session, the participant (learner) in this session will be able to

• Identify how the discrimination urban youth of color experience may or may not be related to dating violence and sexual behavior;
• Discuss the implications of study findings for preventing dating violence and HIV/AIDS among youth of color;
• Identify key areas for future research and practice.

Keywords: Adolescent Health, Social Inequalities

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

Any relevant financial relationships? No