142nd APHA Annual Meeting and Exposition

Annual Meeting Recordings are now available for purchase

306114
'Nobody cares if I use a condom': Sexual Risk Behaviors of Foster Care Youth

142nd APHA Annual Meeting and Exposition (November 15 - November 19, 2014): http://www.apha.org/events-and-meetings/annual
Tuesday, November 18, 2014

Nadine Finigan-Carr, PhD , Ruth Young Center - School of Social Work, University of Maryland - Baltimore, Baltimore, MD
Catherine Watson, MSW , Baltimore City Health Department, Baltimore, MD
Patricia Jones , Prevention and Health Promotion Administration, Maryland Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, Baltimore, MD
Richard Barth, PhD , School Of Social Work, University of Maryland, Baltimore, MD
Of the more than 500,000 American children in foster care, approximately 50% are over the age of 13.  These teens come from a variety of racial and ethnic backgrounds and rural, urban, and suburban environments.  African American teens are disproportionately represented at nearly 3 times there numbers in the general US population.  Foster youth have a double vulnerability – adolescence, a critical stage marked by increased risk for negative social and behavioral outcomes; and, being in foster care. Risky sexual behavior puts youth in danger of acquiring STIs, having an unintended pregnancy, and becoming a teen parent.   Our study examined survey data to assess the overall sexual reproductive health needs for youth aged 14-21 in foster care in Baltimore City (57% Male; 89% African American).  76% of these teens had had sexual intercourse at some point in their lifetime.  Of these, 72% were sexually active before the age of 16.  85% reported having sex without a condom in the past 3 months.  40% of this vulnerable population had been pregnant or gotten someone pregnant; of them, 50% had done so more than once.  A thorough examination of the sexual risk behaviors of foster youth is necessary in order to develop effective prevention strategies.  Engaging in sexual risk behavior can set the stage for engaging in other risky behaviors, thus increasing the likelihood of self-injury, victimization by others, and other negative consequences that result from these behaviors in an already vulnerable population.

Learning Areas:

Planning of health education strategies, interventions, and programs
Social and behavioral sciences

Learning Objectives:
Identify the sexual risk behaviors of foster youth. Describe the psychosocial factors that are related to increased sexual risk behaviors among foster youth. Describe the unique needs of foster youth in comparison to youth in the general population. Discuss approaches to early identification of foster youth’s sexual risk behaviors and provider intervention strategies.

Keyword(s): Adolescents, Underserved Populations

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

Qualified on the content I am responsible for because: I have been the principal of co-principal investigator of grants focusing on at-risk youth behavior. Among my scientific interests has been the investigation of sexual reproductive behaviors among out of home youth.
Any relevant financial relationships? No

I agree to comply with the American Public Health Association Conflict of Interest and Commercial Support Guidelines, and to disclose to the participants any off-label or experimental uses of a commercial product or service discussed in my presentation.