PROJECT SUMMAY / ABSTRACT This application is being submitted in response to NOT-OD-20-032. Sexual and gender minority (SGM) youth 13?17 years of age are disproportionately affected by human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) and sexually transmitted infections (STIs) in the United States (US). Increasing HIV/STI testing and pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) use are key components of the US national strategy to decrease HIV/STI rates among adolescents. Despite this, few SGM adolescents have received HIV/STI testing or PrEP. The parent grant for this supplement (?Minor consent laws and HIV prevention among adolescents in the United States?; R01MH119892) seeks to understand the role that minor consent laws play in the uptake of HIV/STI testing and PrEP among diverse groups of US adolescents. For this supplement, we propose to build an essential dataset for research assessing how SGM-inclusive sexual education laws and policies in the US affect HIV/STI prevention among SGM youth. Specifically, capitalizing on the legal team and public health law methodology already established in AIM 1 of the parent grant (R01MH119892, PI: Nelson), we will assess longitudinal changes in the SGM-inclusivity of sexual education laws and policies from 2000-present and create the first- ever longitudinal dataset specifying and quantifying changes in these laws over time and by state. We will use this dataset as a source of robust control variables for the AIM 2 and 3 analyses proposed in the parent grant (R01MH119892) and make the dataset publicly available for other legal, policy, and public health practitioners and researchers to use. This information will strengthen the validity of the analyses proposed in AIMS 2 and 3 of the parent grant (R01MH119892) and lay the groundwork for future research on policies and practices meant to promote the sexual health and reduce the incidence of HIV/STIs among SGM adolescents.
Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) and other sexually transmitted infections (STIs) significantly burden sexual and gender minority (SGM) youth 13?17 years old in the United States (US). Although SGM-inclusive sexual education has the potential to decrease these HIV/STI disparities, the absence of rigorous national data about SGM-inclusive sexual education has led to a dearth of research assessing the impact of SGM-inclusive sexual education on HIV/STI prevention among these youth. The goal of the proposed research is to (1) address this data gap and (2) lay the groundwork for the legal, policy, and public health research needed to inform policies and practices meant to promote the sexual health and reduce the incidence of HIV/STIs among SGM adolescents.
