Sexual Health Disparities Among African American Youth and the Need for Early Prevention Approaches: Parenting and Youth Development Programs as Strategies for Pre-Risk Prevention

In response to the disproportionate rates and staggering effects of HIV/AIDS in the African American community, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) have initiated a heightened national response to address this crisis by developing prevention interventions for African Americans. Because HIV risk behaviors often originate in youth, intensifying prevention efforts with youth provides an opportunity to reduce the impact of HIV/AIDS on the next generation of adults. As such, this article summarizes data from multiple sources on the disproportionate rates of HIV, sexually transmitted infections, and pregnancy for African American youth. Trends in sexual behaviors that put these youth at risk for negative sexual health outcomes also are highlighted. Taking into account the specific needs of African American youth, we then outline parenting and youth development programs that reduce sexual risk and that have the potential to significantly impact the HIV epidemic in the African American community.