The prevalence of teen births in the U.S. has declined modestly since 1992. However, 800,000-900,000 adolescents age 19 and younger become pregnant annually indicating that youth sexual behavior remains an important public health concern. Recently, there has been substantial interest in youth development as a strategy for reducing youth risk behaviors, such as sexual intercourse. In a youth development framework, youth and family assets are viewed as protecting youth from problem behaviors. As an example of a prevention program attempting to reduce youth risk behavior by strengthening youth assets, the HEART of OKC project (Healthy, Empowered, And Responsible Teens of Oklahoma City) is one of 13 CDC-funded projects as part of a national teen pregnancy prevention initiative. A study of inner-city youth and their parents was conducted using in-home interviews (N=1,350 youth/parent paired interviews) to investigate potential relationships between youth assets and risk behaviors. Logistic regression analysis for each asset construct was conducted controlling for age, sex and race. Nine of 10 youth assets (e.g., family communication, decision-making skills, future aspirations) were significantly related (p<.05) to whether or not the youth had ever participated in sexual intercourse. The odds ratios ranged from .33 to .85, indicating that compared to youth who reported weaker assets, youth who reported stronger assets were significantly less likely to have ever participated in sexual intercourse. The results suggest that youth assets may have a protective effect for sexual risk behavior. Strengthening youth assets may be an important intervention strategy for reducing teen sexual behavior.
Learning Objectives: At the conclusion of the session, the participant in this session will be able to: 1. Identify specific items that comprise each youth asset construct. 2. Discuss youth assets that may be protective of youth sexual behavior.
Keywords: Adolescent Health, Sexual Behavior
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.