Browsing by Subject "Adolescent women"

Now showing 1 - 3 of 3
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    A Multidimensional Model of Sexual Health and Sexual and Prevention Behavior Among Adolescent Women
    (Elsevier, 2013) Hensel, Devon J.; Fortenberry, J. Dennis; Pediatrics, School of Medicine
    Purpose: Sexual health refers a state of lifespan well-being related to sexuality. Among young people, sexual health has multiple dimensions, including the positive developmental contributions of sexuality, as well as the acquisition of skills pertinent to avoiding adverse sexual outcomes such as unintended pregnancy and sexually transmitted infections (STIs). Existing efforts to understand sexual health, however, have yet to empirically operationalize a multi-dimensional model of sexual health and to evaluate its association to different sexual/prevention behaviors. Methods: Sexual health dimensions and sexual/prevention behaviors were drawn from a larger longitudinal cohort study of sexual relationships among adolescent women (N = 387, 14-17 years). Second order latent variable modeling (AMOS/19.0) evaluated the relationship between sexual health and dimensions and analyzed the effect of sexual health to sexual/prevention outcomes. Results: All first order latent variables were significant indicators of sexual health (β: 0.192 - 0.874, all p < .001). Greater sexual health was significantly associated with sexual abstinence, as well as with more frequent non-coital and vaginal sex, condom use at last sex, a higher proportion of condom-protected events, use of hormonal or other methods of pregnancy control and absence of STI. All models showed good fit. Conclusions: Sexual health is an empirically coherent structure, in which the totality of its dimensions is significantly linked to a wide range of outcomes, including sexual abstinence, condom use and absence of STI. This means that, regardless of a young person's experiences, sexual health is an important construct for promoting positive sexual development and for primary prevention.
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    Association of HPV types 6, 11, 16, and 18 DNA detection and serological response in unvaccinated adolescent women
    (Wiley, 2013-10) Tong, Yan; Ermel, Aaron; Tu, Wanzhu; Shew, Marcia; Brown, Darron R.; Department of Biostatistics, Richard M. Fairbanks School of Public Health
    Antibodies directed against the human papillomavirus (HPV) L1 protein are detected in approximately 70% of individuals with HPV infections. The factors associated with a serological response are not characterized. It is hypothesized that the HPV viral load, duration of detection, or both would be associated with seropositivity in adolescent women. Adolescent women (n = 117), ages 15-17 at enrolment were followed for a mean of 6.2 years. Quarterly vaginal swabs (mean 22 per participant) were used to identify HPV 6, 11, 16, or 18 DNA (Roche PCR/Linear Array). Type-specific HPV infection was defined as ≥2 positive assays. To approximate viral load, Roche PCR/Linear Array test strips were scored visually based on the strength of signal relative to beta-globin controls. Sera collected near the end of study were tested by cLIA. Regression models were fit to assess associations between strength of signal (as represented by mean and cumulative strength of signal), duration of HPV detection, seropositivity, and serotiter. Detection of HPV DNA was associated with seropositivity for four types combined and for types 6, 16, and 18. Overall, 70.1% of DNA positive episodes were associated with type-specific seropositivity. The cumulative HPV DNA signal strength during periods of HPV detection for types 6, 11, 16, and 18 combined was associated with seropositivity (OR = 1.21, 95% CI 1.02-1.44 P = 0.026). No other HPV DNA predictors were found to be associated with seropositivity or serotiter.
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    Sexual Concurrency among Adolescent Women with Multiple Partners: A Daily Diary Study
    (Elsevier, 2022) Hensel, Devon J.; O’Sullivan, Lucia F.; Pediatrics, School of Medicine
    Purpose: Sexual partnerships that overlap in some period of time (i.e., concurrent) are a key factor in sexually transmitted infection (STI) transmission. Research examining concurrency among adolescents typically uses person-level, cross-sectional, and/or retrospective data, obscuring factors that manifest on any given occasion of concurrency. We used sexual diaries to examine: (1) daily prevalence of vaginal sex concurrency when two partners are reported by adolescent women; and (2) individual, relational, and behavioral attributes that impact the likelihood of sex with neither partner, with one partner or the other, or with both partners on any given day. Methods: Daily diaries were drawn from a large longitudinal cohort study examining sexual relationships, behaviors, and STIs among adolescent women. Participants contributed 280,844 partner-associated diary entries, of which (27.9%; n = 78,356) indicated multiple partners. All two-partner diary entries were retained for analysis (N = 323; Mage = 17.55; 90% African American). Random intercept mixed-effects multinomial logistic regression was used to evaluate the impact of predictor variables on odds of having sex with one or the other, both, or neither partner. Results: Most two-partner days (93.5%) involved no sex with either partner. Few reports (.2%) indicated same-day sexual concurrency. Older age, greater partner support, and higher sexual interest increased the likelihood of sex with both partners on the same day. Conclusions: Individual, relational, and behavioral factors predict concurrency in ways that challenge assumptions that secondary partnerships constitute negligible relationships. Programs targeting partner concurrency in adolescents may find success tailoring messaging around these findings.