Author ORCID Identifier

Dexter R. Voisin

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

12-1-2012

Abstract

Sexual sensation seeking has been correlated with drug use and risky sex in a number of populations. However, these relationships have had limited examination among adolescents, and to date, have not been explored among detained youth, a group with some of the highest rates of illicit drug use and STIs. To better understand these relationships we utilized A-CASI to collect data on sociodemographics, sexual sensation seeking, drug use and risky sexual behaviors among a sample of 550 detained youth. A series of multivariable regression models controlling for age, gender, race/ethnicity, socioeconomic status and risky peer networks indicated that sexual sensation seeking was associated with alcohol and ecstasy use; having sex while high on drugs; having sex with a partner who was high on drugs; having more sexual partners; having engaged in unprotected vaginal sex; and less condom use during oral sex, all in the 2 months prior to being detained. In addition, sexual sensation seeking was also associated with ever having exchanged sex for drugs or money. These data have important implications for STI/drug use prevention interventions among detained adolescents.

Keywords

detained youth, drug use, sexual sensation seeking, STI risk

Publication Title

Journal of AIDS & Clinical Research

Rights

© 2012 Voisin DR, et al. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.

Creative Commons License

Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

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