BACKGROUND Adolescence is an important stage of life for establishing healthy behaviors, attitudes, and lifestyles that contribute to current and future health. Health risk behavior is one indicator of health of young people that may serve both as a measure of health over time as well as a target for health policies and programs. This study examined the prevalence and distribution of youth heal...

INTRODUCTION The purpose of this study was to examine racial/ethnic disparities in being forced to have sexual intercourse against one's will, and the effect of substance use on these disparities. METHODS We analyzed data from adolescent women participating in the Youth Risk Behavior Survey. Bivariate associations and logistic regression models were assessed to examine associations among race...

The current study examines longitudinal associations between light and heavy sexual experiences and psychiatric symptoms in African American adolescent girls receiving mental health care. Research supports bidirectional associations between adolescent romantic and sexual behaviors and depression and other mental health problems, but this finding has not been examined among African American yout...

BACKGROUND Risky sexual behaviors of young adults have received increasing attention during the last decades. However, few studies have focused on the sexual behavior of young adults in shantytowns of Latin America. Specifically, studies on the association between sexual behaviors and other risk factors for sexually transmitted infections (STI) and HIV/AIDS transmission, such as the consumption...

OBJECTIVE Prior studies have demonstrated an association between high-risk sexual behavior and alcohol use, and there is emerging evidence that dating status and sexual behavior are related to risk for subsequent alcohol use. However, relatively little is known regarding the specific attitudinal or behavioral indicators of alcohol-related risk associated with sexual behavior. The present study ...

In 2015, we conducted a cross-sectional, Internet-based, U.S. nationally representative probability survey of 2,021 adults (975 men, 1,046 women) focused on a broad range of sexual behaviors. Individuals invited to participate were from the GfK KnowledgePanel®. The survey was titled the 2015 Sexual Exploration in America Study and survey completion took about 12 to 15 minutes. The survey was co...

Although gonadal and adrenal steroids heavily impact sexual function at the level of the brain, the nervous system also produces its own steroids de novo that may regulate sexual behavior and reproduction. Current evidence points to important roles for neurosteroids in sexual and gender-typical behaviors, control of ovulation, and behaviors that strongly influence sexual interest and motivation...

BACKGROUND Psychological and educational correlates of bullying have been explored extensively. However, little information is available about the link between bullying and sexual risk-taking behaviors among adolescents, though for some youth it may be that sexual risk taking emerges in response to bullying involvement. Associations for both heterosexual youth and those who identify as gay, les...

PURPOSE To examine the relation between "sexting" (sending and sharing sexual photos online, via text messaging, and in person) with sexual risk behaviors and psychosocial challenge in adolescence. METHODS Data were collected online between 2010 and 2011 with 3,715 randomly selected 13- to 18-year-old youth across the United States. RESULTS Seven percent of youth reported sending or showing...

OBJECTIVES We evaluated the effects of an individual intervention versus a network intervention on HIV-related injection and sexual risk behaviors among street-recruited opiate injection drug users in 5 Ukraine cities. METHODS Between 2004 and 2006, 722 opiate injection drug users were recruited to participate in interventions that were either individually based or based on a social network m...