329921
1991-2013 Longitudinal Trends amongst U.S. High School Students who Had Multiple Sex Partners by Grade Level, Gender, and Race/Ethnicity
Many high school adolescents engage in risky sexual behaviors that can have undesirable health outcomes. In 2013, students were surveyed and 15.0% reported having had sex with four or more persons in their lifetime.
Methods
Using 1991-2013 Youth Risk Behavior Survey data released by the CDC, we developed charts to compare across gender, grade, and race/ethnicity using the prevalence rates of high school students who had four or more sex partners.
Results
During the 22 years that were analyzed for this risky behavior, the prevalence rates overall decreased significantly among all grades, genders, and race/ethnicity. However, even though African American rates decreased, African American males had the highest rate of students who had sex with four or more people. Males across all stratifications generally had higher rates of having four or more sexual partners compared to their female counterparts. Furthermore, across all races and genders, 9th graders tended to have lower rates of having multiple sex partners while 12th graders tended to have higher rates.
Discussion
Implications of this study include developing a school-based intervention aimed at educating the priority population about the risks associated with having four or more sexual partners.
Learning Areas:
Public health or related educationPublic health or related research
Learning Objectives:
Describe the trends associated with adolescents who have had four or more sexual partners.
Identify prevalence differences in having multiple sex partner across gender, grade level, and race/ethnicity.
Keyword(s): Adolescents, Sexual Risk Behavior
Qualified on the content I am responsible for because: I am a certified health education specialist with a bachelors degree in public health. I am pursuing my MPH degree at the University of Toledo and have performed this research with the supervision of a faculty member. I have researched this topic for a semester long project with the supervision of our professor.
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.