Adolescents often experiment with substance use and sexual
activity, which can impact upon their health and well-being, and establish
harmful patterns of behavior which continue into adulthood. While substance use
and participation in sexual behaviors often co-occur, few studies have examined
whether these behaviors cluster in adolescence.
To investigate clustering of sexual activity and substance
use among youth in Northern Ireland.
Data from 875 young people (aged 16) who participated in the
2008 Northern Ireland Life and Times Survey were used to investigate clustering
using the Odds/Expected ratio method. Gender differences in clustering were
explored.
Alcohol consumption was the most prevalent risk behavior
(75%), followed by cigarette smoking, sexual intercourse, illicit substance
use, and solvent use the least prevalent. Over 40% of young people participated
in multiple risk behaviors (2 or more). Several behavior combinations were
statistically clustered, for most the reported prevalence was lower than
expected, however, participation in all five risk behaviors occurred at a much
higher rate than expected, particularly for male youth.
While experimentation with risky behaviors is often
considered developmentally appropriate in adolescence it is important to
understand how young people experience these behaviors, and the potential for
multiple risk exposures as a result of participation in substance use and
sexual behaviors. These findings highlight the clustering of substance use and
sexual behaviors, and indicate variations in vulnerability to participation in
multiple risk behaviors by gender.
Via:
By:
- 1a Psychology and Allied Health Sciences, Glasgow Caledonian University , Glasgow , United Kingdom.
More at: https://twitter.com/hiv_insight
No comments:
Post a Comment