2015 APHA Annual Meeting & Expo

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Recorded Annual Meeting Presentations (RAMP) are now available for purchase.
Only $90 for presenters, $140 for registered attendees and $200 for non-attendees.

Online Program

330895
Perceived caregiver support and sexual partner communication mediators of condom use among African American female adolescents


Sunday, November 1, 2015

Erikka J. Woolfolk, Rollins School of Public Health, Emory University, Atlanta, GA
Andrea Swartzendruber, PhD, School of Public Health, Emory University, Atlanta, GA
Ralph J. DiClemente, PhD, Department of Behavioral Sciences and Health Education, Rollins School of Public Health, Emory Univeristy, Atlanta, GA
Jessica M. Sales, PhD, Emory University, Atlanta, GA
Background:  Perceptions of warmth and support are consistently associated with reduced adolescent sexual risk behavior.  Although sexual communication and negotiation with partners are well-established mediators of condom use among adolescents, few studies have examined if perceived caregiver support is related to sexual partner communication. The objective was to examine associations between perceived caregiver support and sexual partner communication mediators of condom use among female African American adolescents, who are at disproportionate risk for HIV and sexually transmitted infections (STIs).

Methods: Baseline data were collected from 701 African American female adolescents aged 14-20 years participating in an HIV/STI prevention trial. Due to non-normal distributions, all outcomes were dichotomized, with scores above the median categorized as “high” and scores at or below the median categorized as “low.”  Logistic regression models were used to examine associations between perceived caregiver support and sexual partner communication frequency and self-efficacy, fear of condom negotiation and refusal self-efficacy.  Adjusted models controlled for participant age.

Results: Greater perceived caregiver support was significantly associated with an increased likelihood of being categorized as having high partner communication frequency (AOR=1.04; 95%CI=1.02, 1.06), partner communication self-efficacy (AOR=1.02; 95%CI=1.01, 1.04), and refusal self-efficacy (AOR=1.02; 95%CI=1.00, 1.04) and a reduced likelihood of being categorized as having high fear of condom negotiation (AOR=.95; 95%CI=.94, .97).

Conclusions:  Greater perceived caregiver support was associated with sexual partner communication mediators of condom use among African American female adolescents. Family interventions aimed at increasing perceived parental support may offer benefits for HIV/STI prevention for this vulnerable population.

Learning Areas:

Public health or related research
Social and behavioral sciences

Learning Objectives:
Assess the relationship between perceived caregiver support and sexual communication behaviors for African American female adolescents.

Keyword(s): Caregivers, Adolescents

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

Qualified on the content I am responsible for because: This is the work I am doing for my masters thesis and I plan to continue this work in my doctoral dissertation.
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: 2036.0: Adolescent Health Poster Session