Dataset Information

Sex, drugs, and race: how behaviors differentially contribute to the sexually transmitted infection risk network structure.

ABSTRACT:

Objectives

We examined how risk behaviors differentially connect a population at high risk for sexually transmitted infections.

Methods

Starting from observed networks representing the full risk network and the risk network among respondents only, we constructed a series of edge-deleted counterfactual networks that selectively remove sex ties, drug ties, and ties involving both sex and drugs and a comparison random set. With these edge-deleted networks, we have demonstrated how each tie type differentially contributes to the connectivity of the observed networks on a series of standard network connectivity measures (component and bicomponent size, distance, and transitivity ratio) and the observed network racial segregation.

Results

Sex ties are unique from the other tie types in the network, providing wider reach in the network in relatively nonredundant ways. In this population, sex ties are more likely to bridge races than are other tie types.

Conclusions

Interventions derived from only 1 mode of transmission at a time (e.g., condom promotion or needle exchange) would have different potential for curtailing sexually transmitted infection spread through the population than would attempts that simultaneously address all risk-relevant behaviors.

SUBMITTER: Adams J

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3558752 | biostudies-literature | 2013 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Publications

Sex, drugs, and race: how behaviors differentially contribute to the sexually transmitted infection risk network structure.

Adams Jimi J Moody James J Morris Martina M

American journal of public health 20121213 2

<h4>Objectives</h4>We examined how risk behaviors differentially connect a population at high risk for sexually transmitted infections.<h4>Methods</h4>Starting from observed networks representing the full risk network and the risk network among respondents only, we constructed a series of edge-deleted counterfactual networks that selectively remove sex ties, drug ties, and ties involving both sex and drugs and a comparison random set. With these edge-deleted networks, we have demonstrated how ea ...[more]

PMID: 23237162

Similar Datasets

Project description:Risk and protective processes are integrated developmental processes that directly or indirectly affect behavioral outcomes. A better understanding of these processes is needed, in order to gauge their contribution to sexual risk behaviors. This retrospective cross-sectional study modeled the ecodevelopmental chain of relationships to examine the social contexts of African-American (AA) adolescents associated with sexually transmitted disease (STD)- and HIV-risk behaviors. We used data from 1,619 AA adolescents with an average age of 16±1.8 years obtained from the first wave of the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health for this study. Confirmatory factor analysis followed by structural equation modeling was conducted to identify the latent constructs that reflect the social-interactional components of the ecodevelopmental theory. Among contextual factors, findings indicated that a feeling of love from father, school, religion, and parent attitudes toward adolescent sexual behavior were all factors that played significant roles in the sexual behavior of AA adolescents. AA adolescents who reported feeling love from their father, feeling a strong negative attitude from their parents toward having sex at a very young age, and having a strong bond with school personnel were associated with better health statuses. The level of parents' involvement in their children's lives was reflected in the adolescents' feeling of love from parents and moderated by their socioeconomic status. Being male, attaining increased age, and being a sexual minority were associated with higher likelihood of exhibiting risky sexual behavior. In contrast, higher socioeconomic status and fathers' level of involvement were indirectly associated with reduced STD/HIV-related sexual risk behavior. In conclusion, our findings suggest that interventions aimed at maximal protection against STD/HIV-related risk behavior among AA adolescents should adopt both self- and context-based strategies that promote positive functioning in the family, school, and peer microsystems.

Dataset Information

Sex, drugs, and race: how behaviors differentially contribute to the sexually transmitted infection risk network structure.

Objectives

Methods

Results

Conclusions

Publications

Sex, drugs, and race: how behaviors differentially contribute to the sexually transmitted infection risk network structure.

Similar Datasets

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