Pathways to Drug and Sexual Risk Behaviors among Detained Adolescents

Abstract

Purpose-Among a sample of detained youth, to investigate pathways that link witnessing community violence, in the 12 months prior to being detained, to drug and sexual risk behaviors, in the two months preceding detainment.Methods-Using A-CASI technology, data was collected from 559 detained adolescents on demographics, family factors, peer influences, religiosity, witnessing community violence, and drug and sexual risk behaviors.Results-Controlling for demographics and family variables, findings indicated positive associations between witnessing community violence and drug and sexual risk behaviors. Witnessing community violence was directly linked to sexual risk behaviors, and indirectly associated with these risk behaviors, through gang membership and perceived risky peer norms. Additionally, witnessing community violence was indirectly linked to substance use through gang membership and perceived risky peer norms.Conclusions-Interventions targeting change in peer affiliations and perceived norms may be an effective strategy for reducing risky drug and sexual behaviors among detained youth.

Community Violence Exposure and Sexual Behaviors in a Nationally Representative Sample of Young Adults: The Effects of Race/Ethnicity and Gender

“…Even after controlling for potential confounders such as age, gender, race/ethnicity, parental education levels, and family structure, participants who reported any CVE versus participants reporting no such exposures were more likely to have their first sexual experience at or before age 14 years and to have a higher number of sexual partners during the previous 12 months and a higher total number of lifetime sexual partners. Our findings extend prior research reporting associations between CVE and sexual risk behaviors in samples of adolescents (Albus et al, 2004;Berenson et al, 2001;Brady, 2006;Voisin, 2003Voisin, , 2005Voisin et al, 2007Voisin et al, , 2008 and are consistent with the one prior study of young adults examining associations between CVE and sexual risk behaviors among a small sample of predominantly White college students aged 18 to 20 years old (Brady, 2006).…”

“…By doing so, we address several important gaps in the extant literature. For instance, prior studies examining the relationship between CVE and youth sexual behaviors either have been based on small community populations, in which samples ranged from 120 to 602 participants (Albus et al, 2004;Voisin, 2003Voisin, , 2005, or have been limited to clinical samples (e.g., detained youth or hospital samples; Berenson et al, 2001;Stiffman et al, 1995;Voisin et al, 2007Voisin et al, , 2008. This has limited generalizability to the overall U.S. population.…”

“…Emerging research documents that CVE and sexual risk behaviors are two intersecting public health concerns (Voisin, Jenkins, & Takahashi, 2011), such that youth exposed to community violence are more likely to report early sexual debut and/or engage in sexual risk behaviors (Albus, Weist, & Perez-Smith, 2004;Berenson, Wiemann, & McCombs, 2001;Brady, 2006;Stiffman, Dore, Cunningham, & Earls, 1995;Voisin, 2003Voisin, , 2005Voisin et al, 2007;Voisin, Neilands, Salazar, Crosby, & DiClemente, 2008). For instance, prior multivariate findings from a sample of 120 African American adolescent men indicated that participants who were victims of community violence were more likely than their counterparts to engage in HIV sexual risk behaviors (e.g., have sex without condoms, have sex after drug use, and report concurrent sexual partners Voisin, 2003).…”

La prise de risque chez les jeunes contrevenants montréalais : une étude comparative

“…À l'instar de la délinquance, la consommation de drogues et d'alcool est souvent liée à d'autres conduites à risque. En effet, des recherches antérieures indiquent que les jeunes consommateurs sont plus enclins à s'engager dans une variété de comportements à risque (Voisin, Neilands, Salazar, Crosby et DiClemente, 2008). Par exemple, l'usage de substances illicites a été associé à un nombre accru de partenaires sexuels et à une utilisation non systématique du condom (Guo et al, 2002).…”

“…La théorie du « syndrome de déviance générale » (Jessor et Jessor, 1977) soutient que la propension volontaire à prendre des risques et à se mettre en danger sous-tend ces divers comportements. Les études recensées convergent également vers la démonstration que les jeunes qui présentent le plus de risques d'adopter ces comportements sont ceux pris en charge par le système de justice pénale pour adolescents (Lambert et al, 2010 ;Voisin et al, 2008) et qui plus est, ceux associés aux gangs de rue (entre autres, Esbensen et Huizinga, 1993 ;Thornberry et al, 2003).…”