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Trajectories of multiple adolescent health risk behaviors in a low-income African American population

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  08 November 2013

Brian Mustanski ,
Gayle R. Byck ,
Allison Dymnicki ,
Emma Sterrett ,
David Henry  and
John Bolland
Brian Mustanski*
Affiliation:
Northwestern University
Gayle R. Byck
Affiliation:
Northwestern University
Allison Dymnicki
Affiliation:
University of Illinois at Chicago
Emma Sterrett
Affiliation:
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
David Henry
Affiliation:
University of Illinois at Chicago
John Bolland
Affiliation:
University of Alabama
*
Address correspondence and reprint requests to: Brian Mustanski, Department of Medical Social Sciences, Feinberg School of Medicine, Northwestern University, 625 North Michigan Avenue, Suite 2700, Chicago, IL 60611; E-mail: brian@northwestern.edu.
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Abstract

This study examined interdependent trajectories of sexual risk, substance use, and conduct problems among 12- to 18-year-old African American youths who were followed annually as part of the Mobile Youth Study. We used growth mixture modeling to model the development of these three outcomes in the 1,406 participants who met the inclusion criteria. Results indicate that there were four distinct classes: normative, low risk (74.3% of sample); increasing high-risk takers (11.9%); adolescent-limited conduct problems and drug risk with high risky sex (8.0%); and early experimenters (5.8%) The higher risk classes had higher rates of pregnancy and sexually transmitted infections diagnoses than the normative sample at each of the ages we examined. Differing somewhat from our hypothesis, all of the nonnormative classes exhibited high sexual risk behavior. Although prevention efforts should be focused on addressing all three risk behaviors, the high rate of risky sexual behavior in the 25% of the sample that fall into the three nonnormative classes underscores an urgent need for improved sex education, including teen pregnancy and HIV/sexually transmitted infections prevention, in this community.

Type
Regular Articles
Information
Development and Psychopathology , Volume 25 , Issue 4pt1 , November 2013 , pp. 1155 - 1169
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2013 

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