Inner city adolescents in AIDS epicenters are at high risk for HIV/STDs. Most research on predictors of risky sexual behaviors among adolescents focuses on individual characteristics. This study will examine the relationship between school characteristics and adolescent risk. Hypotheses were derived using theories developed to link neighborhood traits to risk behaviors (Jencks and Mayer, 1990). It is postulated that schools influence adolescent risk behaviors through their institutional resources (e.g., academic resources, financial resources, infrastructure) and peer effects (e.g., delinquency, absenteeism, dropout rate). The study aims are: 1) to test whether there is a direct relationship between school attributes and adolescent risk behaviors, and whether adolescent subjective norms and peer behaviors mediate this relationship; 2) to test whether individual, family and neighborhood traits confound the influence of school attributes on adolescent risk behaviors; 3) to test whether individual characteristics moderate the relationship between school attributes and risk behaviors; and 4) to test whether school attributes affect the success of an intervention to reduce teen risk behaviors. The data set for this research was collected for R01MH61144. It consists of 1,052 adolescents age 14 to 17 living in the Bronx, NY. The data set includes measures of adolescent sexual experience and use of drugs and alcohol, the school the adolescent attends and the address where they live. These data will be linked to publicly available data on schools and census tracts. Information on the socio- demographic characteristics of census tracts is available from the website, Infoshare Online. Information on school characteristics is available from the NYC Department of Education website and other websites. This study will advance research on HIV risks by using a theoretical approach that combines individual, school and neighborhood traits to understand adolescent risk behavior. It will also clarify whether the success of individual-level HIV preventive interventions depends on school (and neighborhood) context. ? ? ?
