Citation

Fullilove MT, Golden E, Fullilove RE, Lennon R, Porterfield D, Schwarcz S, Bolan G. J. Adolesc. Health 1993; 14(4): 295-300.

Affiliation

New York State Psychiatric Institute, Columbia University School of Public Health, NY 10032.

Copyright

(Copyright © 1993, Elsevier Publishing)

DOI

unavailable

PMID

8347641

Abstract

Researchers combined data from two surveys conducted in the summer of 1988 to examine the association between sexually transmitted diseases (STD) risk behaviors and crack cocaine use among sexually active, black teenagers. All of the subjects lived in an inner city neighborhood in the San Francisco Bay Area in California. The Centers for Disease Control had earlier found a large increase in gonorrhea among black teenagers in San Francisco. Crack users were more likely the nonusers to have sexual intercourse under the influence of drugs or alcohol (43% vs. 11% for boys and 46% vs. 14% for girls; p .001), to take part in sexual acts placing them at risk for STD in exchange for money or drugs (29% vs. 4% for boys and 25% vs. 0 for girls; p .001), and to have more sexual partners in the last year (11.1 vs. 5.3 partners for boys; p .01 and 4.5 vs. 2.5 partners for girls; insignificant). Female nonusers were more likely to have used a condom during last sexual intercourse than were female crack users (39% vs. 18%; p .01). For both groups of boys, condom use during the last sexual act was at the same low rate (about 25%). Approximately 63% of all adolescents admitted to having at least one sexual risk behavior. Crack cocaine use and having at least one relative who used drugs were the greatest predictors of STD risk behavior (odds ratios, 2.2 and 1.97; p .001 and .01, respectively). An urban anthropology study in the same neighborhoods showed that the teenagers lived in an area conducive to high-risk behaviors including drug use common among friends and relatives, more than one sexual partner/year, high prevalence of STDs, and low condom use. The findings from these studies indicated that public health workers planning to implement interventions to prevent or reduce the risk of teenage drug use and/or HIV infection must consider both individual and environmental influences.

Language: en