Correlates of African American female adolescent offenders 3, 4-Methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA or "Ecstasy") use and sexually transmitted infection morbidity

• Published in: Journal of human behavior in the social environment 2016-02, Vol.26 (2), p.194-201
• Main Authors: Stephens, Torrance, Conerly Holliday, Rhonda, Hopkins, Shakita, Rose, Shanhol, Braithwaite, Ronald, Smith, Selina
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Acquired immune deficiency syndrome; Adolescent development; Adolescent girls; Adolescents; African American; African Americans; AIDS; Behavior problems; Chlamydia trachomatis; Correlation analysis; Cultural competence; Cultural sensitivity; ecstasy; Ecstasy drug; Female offenders; Gonorrhea; Health; Health behavior; Health problems; High risk; HIV; Human immunodeficiency virus; Imprisonment; Infections; Intervention; Juvenile offenders; Morbidity; Offenders; Prevention; Prevention programs; Risk; Risk assessment; Risk behavior; Risk taking; Sexually transmitted diseases; sexually transmitted infections (STIs); Social development; Statistical significance; STD; Substance abuse; Teenagers; Warts; Womens history; Youth
• ISSN: 1091-1359; 1540-3556
• DOI: 10.1080/10911359.2015.1083502

The current study was designed to determine the extent to which self-reported ecstasy use in a population of juvenile adolescent detainees in a southern state is associated with high-risk health behaviors pertaining to sexually transmitted infection (STI) symptomology and past history of STI occurrence. Participants were 764 African American females extracted from an overall sample of 2,260 juvenile offenders housed at selected Youth Development Campuses in the state of Georgia. Significance tests were conducted using univariate logistic regressions to examine the independent associations of participant's self-reported ecstasy use and dichotomized HIV risk behavior correlates and history of having a prior STI before the most recent incarceration Participants who reported ecstasy use prior to incarceration were 1.7 (OR = 1.68, 95% CI = 0.78-3.64) and 1.8 times (OR = 1.87, 95% CI = 1.24-2.81) more likely respectively to indicate having had genital warts or chlamydia, and were more than 1.5 times (OR = 2.21, 95% CI = 0.83-5.44) and two times more likely to report having had gonorrhea or herpes, accordingly. Prevention programs for adolescent offender populations should develop interventions that target adolescents' substance use behavior as a function of STI risk taking as well as being culturally competent to deal specifically with these problem behaviors.