This study examines the developmental relations between adolescent substance use and risky sexual behaviors in young adulthood. The sample is from Seattle Social Development Project, a longitudinal panel study of 808 youths interviewed annually from 1985 (at approximately age 10 years) to 1991 (age 16), and again in 1993 (age 18) and 1996 (age 21). The sample, which was selected to over-represent students from schools serving high crime neighborhoods, is gender-balanced, ethnically diverse, with a high retention rate (95% of the original sample were interviewed at age 21). Data were collected on a wide range of measures of problem behaviors such as substance use, sexual behavior, and delinquency. This study identifies the developmental trajectories of adolescent substance use (i.e., alcohol, tobacco, marijuana, and other illicit drugs) from ages 13 to 18 using a semiparametric group-based modeling (SGM) approach developed by Nagin and colleagues. The SGM approach provides a way to identify distinctive trajectories of substance use, which are used as predictors of risky sexual behaviors at age 21 (i.e., inconsistency in use of latex protection and number of sexual partners). Gender and ethnic differences in the developmental relations between substance use trajectories and risky sexual behavior are examined. Potential implications for HIV/AIDS prevention among adolescents and young adults are discussed.
Learning Objectives: 1. Describe a new statistical methodology, the semiparametric group-based modeling (SGM) approach, that identifies distinctive trajectories of substance use over a period of time. 2. Assess the relationships between developmental trajectories of adolescent substance use and risky sexual behaviors in young adulthood. 3. Analyze possible gender and ethnic differences in the relationships between adolescent substance use and risky sexual behaviors. 4. Discuss potential implications for HIV/AIDS prevention among adolescents and young adults.
Keywords: Adolescents, Substance Abuse
Presenting author's disclosure statement:
Organization/institution whose products or services will be discussed: None
I do not have any significant financial interest/arrangement or affiliation with any organization/institution whose products or services are being discussed in this session.