142nd APHA Annual Meeting and Exposition

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308071
Network Influences Overtime on the Sexual Health of Homeless Youth

142nd APHA Annual Meeting and Exposition (November 15 - November 19, 2014): http://www.apha.org/events-and-meetings/annual
Sunday, November 16, 2014

Eric Rice, PhD , School of Social Work, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA
Amanda Yoshioka-Maxwell, MSW , School of Social Work, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA
Harmony Rhoades, PhD , School of Social Work, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA
Hailey Winetrobe, MPH, CHES , School of Social Work, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA
Norweeta Milburn, PhD , Department of Psychiatry and Biobehavioral Sciences, UCLA Nathanson Family Resilience Center, UCLA Semel Institute for Neuroscience and Human Behavior, Los Angeles, CA
Objectives:  Runaway and homeless youth (RHY) consistently report high rates of unintended pregnancy and sexually transmitted infections.  Condoms are freely available in most RHY service settings, yet many youth report infrequent condom use. Peer-based sexual health promotion and pregnancy prevention can be informed by an understanding of how social network processes may associated with condom use. We examine unique population-level network data overtime to inform prevention program implementation strategies among RHY.

Methods:  Population-level network data were collected from two networks of RHY recruited from drop-in centers in Los Angeles, every six months for one year (Network 1: n= 237, 263, 312; Network 2: n=138, 149, 131). For each panel, a sociomatrix was generated based on youth nominating other youth in the sample.  K-core was used to define peripheral/non-peripheral network positions; logistic regression assessed associations between position and recent condom use.

Results: In both networks overtime, peripheral network positions were consistently associated with reduced reports of failure to use condoms.  In network 1, in panel 2 and 3 peripheral positions reported less unprotected sex (OR = 0.62; OR=0.63); for network 2, in panel 1 and 2 this pattern was observed (OR=.55; OR=0.39).

Conclusions: Overtime, unprotected sex was consistently lower in peripheral network positions. Building upon these existing patterns of behavior may enhance the effective implementation of peer-based prevention interventions.  Programs such as Latkin’s SHIELD, which do not depend on targeting core network positions, may be most effective with respect to promoting condom use among RHY.

Learning Areas:

Planning of health education strategies, interventions, and programs
Public health or related research
Social and behavioral sciences

Learning Objectives:
Identify social network processes that can inform sexual health intervention implementation strategies for homeless youth. Describe how social network position may affect homeless youth’s condom using practices.

Keyword(s): Adolescents, Sexual Risk Behavior

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

Qualified on the content I am responsible for because: I am a professor in the USC school of social work focusing on public health issues among homeless 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.

Back to: 2070.0: Addressing the sexual and reproductive health needs of especially vulnerable populations