Invisible and at-risk: Teen pregnancy among sexual minority high school students in New York City

Much research and programmatic attention has been given to understanding and preventing teen pregnancy in the U.S. Yet, sexual minority (non-heterosexual) youth have been invisible in most of this research. To determine the extent to which teen pregnancy is an issue among sexual minority youth, we analyzed data from 2005, 2007, and 2009 New York City (NYC) Youth Risk Behavior Surveys, which are representative of NYC high school students in each survey year. Students who had ever had sexual intercourse were included in the sample, while students with missing data or who only had same-sex partners were excluded (final sample = 9,703 students; 4,892 females and 4,811 males). We conducted multivariate logistic regression to examine associations between sexual orientation, measured as sexual identity and gender of sex partners, and risk of pregnancy, adjusting for demographic characteristics (age, race/ethnicity, and survey year) and sexual behaviors (age at first intercourse, number of lifetime sex partners, and ever physically forced to have sex). All analyses were stratified by gender. Overall, 14.3% of female and 10.8% of male students had ever been pregnant or gotten someone pregnant. Female and male youth who identified as gay/lesbian/bisexual or had sex partners of both sexes had higher odds of pregnancy. Sexual behaviors accounted for greater risk of pregnancy among females but not males. Sexual minority youth should have a more prominent place in teen pregnancy prevention efforts. Additional research is needed to further understand teen pregnancy risk among sexual minority youth and to design appropriate interventions.