The current study was designed
to determine the extent to which self-reported ecstasy use in a population of juvenile
adolescent detainees in a southern state is associated with high-risk health behaviors
pertaining to sexually transmitted infection (STI) symptomology and past history
of STI occurrence. Participants were 764 African American females extracted from
an overall sample of 2,260 juvenile offenders housed at selected Youth Development
Campuses in the state of Georgia. Significance tests were conducted using univariate
logistic regressions to examine the independent associations of participant’s self-reported
ecstasy use and dichotomized HIV risk behavior correlates and history of having
a prior STI before the most recent incarceration Participants who reported ecstasy
use prior to incarceration were 1.7 (OR =
1.68, 95% CI =
0.78–3.64) and 1.8 times (OR =
1.87, 95% CI =
1.24–2.81) more likely respectively to indicate having had genital warts or chlamydia,
and were more than 1.5 times (OR =
2.21, 95% CI =
0.83–5.44) and two times more likely to report having had gonorrhea or herpes, accordingly.
Prevention programs for adolescent offender populations should develop interventions
that target adolescents’ substance use behavior as a function of STI risk taking
as well as being culturally competent to deal specifically with these problem behaviors.
...Findings demonstrate that the use of this drug occurred
among approximately 16% of the study sample, a rate higher than the level of
use observed by von Sydow and colleagues in their study, albeit their measure
was ecstasy/stimulant/hallucinogen use in a sample of adolescents and young
adults (von Sydow, Lieb, Pfister,
Höfler, & Wittchen, 2002). Our findings of participants’
reported history of ecstasy use prior to this incarceration period was nearly
half that of the 30% reported by Cottler and associates in their investigation
of ecstasy abuse and dependence among adolescents and young adults, a sample
that was 52% were female and 23% nonwhite (Cottler, Womack, Compton, & Ben-Abdallah, 2001).
We also observed significant higher rates of STI symptomology in the form of
feeling that they needed to urinate frequently, pain in the lower pelvis or
deep in the vagina during sex, and bleeding from the vagina at times other than
participant’s regular menstrual cycle. African American female detainees in our
sample who reported using the drug were significantly more like to report
having had chlamydia, with the likelihood of having had gonorrhea previously
approaching significance.
This investigation is important for several reasons.
First, use of ecstasy can have a neurotoxic impact on users leading to deficits
in memory and verbal ability (Cowan et al., 2009; Montgomery & Fisk, 2008; NIDA, 2004), and other problems associated
with ecstasy use include but are not limited to lowered immune function and
sleeping disorders (Connor, 2004; Schierenbeck et al., 2008).
Last, adolescent users of ecstasy under 18 years of age are considered to be
more vulnerable to its potential neurotoxic effects (Buchert et al., 2001), which makes it an
important item of investigation in terms of problem behaviors that may occur
due to its use, in particular behaviors that manifest in the form of sexual
risk taking and outcomes associated with STI morbidity...
Full article at: http://goo.gl/RvyNsg
By:
Department of
Psychology; and Department of Political Science, Clark Atlanta University,
Atlanta, Georgia, USA
bDepartment of Preventive Medicine,
Morehouse School of Medicine, Atlanta, Georgia, USA
cDepartment of Biology, Clark Atlanta
University, Atlanta, Georgia, USA
dDepartment of Biology, University of West
Georgia, Carrollton, Georgia, USA
eInstitute of Public and Preventive Health,
Georgia Regents University, Augusta, Georgia, USA
CONTACT: Torrance Stephens ; Email: moc.liamg@dhpsnehpetst Department
of Psychology and Department of Political Science, Clark Atlanta University,
Knowles Hall 107, 223 James P. Brawley Drive SW, Atlanta, GA 30314, USA
More at: https://twitter.com/hiv insight
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