Females diagnosed with HIV have experienced high rates of intimate partner violence, have a history of sexual victimization beginning in childhood, and are significantly more likely to abuse substances (Cavanaugh, Hansen, & Sullivan, 2010; Cohen et al., 2000). However, little is known about how HIV risk behaviors begin and are sustained throughout adolescence among high-risk females who have been abused. In addition, the landscape of sexual socialization is rapidly changing as internet pornography becomes more accessible (Ybarra, Finkelhor, Mitchell, & Wolak, 2009) and social media websites more popular (Rideout, Foehr, Roberts, & Foundation, 2010). Therefore, the current study aims to understand how cyber-sexual socialization is related to HIV risk behavior in conjunction with other risk behaviors (such as substance use) through the person-centered approaches of Latent Class Analysis and Latent Transition Analysis. Using data from the Female Adolescent Development Study (FADS) which followed a high-risk sample (45% African American and 53% maltreated) of female adolescents from age 14-19, the proposed study will (1) identify particular sub-groups of female adolescents at particular risk for substance use and HIV risk behavior before the onset of those behaviors, informing the target population for intervention, (2) identify new risk factors through risky online behavior that are so much a part of adolescents sexual behavior today, informing the relevant content of interventions, (3) identify how clustering of many risk factors related to HIV and substance use transition over time, informing the timing of interventions, and (4) determine how the HIV risk path differs for maltreated adolescents and ethnic minorities so that interventions that target safe sexuality can help all female adolescents navigate safe sexual behavior.
In order to provide the traction necessary to fill in the gaps of knowledge and education to reduce HIV risk and substance use among female adolescents, the proposed study will (1) identify particular sub-groups of female adolescents at particular risk for substance use and HIV risk behavior before the onset of those behaviors, (2) identify new risk factors through risky online behavior that are so much a part of adolescents sexual behavior today, (3) identify how HIV and substance use behaviors transition over time, and (4) determine how the HIV risk path differs for maltreated adolescents and ethnic minorities so that interventions that target sexuality can help all female adolescents navigate safe sexual behavior. By applying new analytic techniques, critical new insight into the dynamic processes involved in HIV risk behavior among female adolescents will be gained.
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| Leavitt, Chelom E; McDaniel, Brandon T; Maas, Megan K et al. (2017) Parenting Stress and Sexual Satisfaction Among First-time Parents: A Dyadic Approach. Sex Roles 76:346-355 |
