Work

Maternal models of risk: Links between substance use and risky sexual behavior in African American female caregivers and daughters

Year: 2012

Type: article

Abstract: African American (AA) adolescent girls are at heightened risk for HIV and sexually transmitted infections (STIs), and thus knowledge of factors related to risky sexual behavior in this population is crucial. Using Social Learning Theory (Bandura, 1977), this paper examines pathways from female caregivers' risky sexual behavior and substance use to adolescent girls' risky sexual behavior and substance use in a sample of 214 low-income, urban AA female caregivers and daughters recruited from outpatient mental health clinics in Chicago. Structural equation modeling (SEM) revealed that sexual risk reported by female caregivers was associated with adolescent sexual risk, and illicit drug use reported by female caregivers was related to adolescent-reported substance use, which was in turn associated with adolescent-reported sexual risk behavior. These findings suggest that female caregivers' sexual behavior and substance use both relate to girls' sexual risk. Thus, results emphasize the role of female caregivers in transmitting risk.

Source: Journal of Adolescence

DOI: 10.1016/j.adolescence.2012.01.004

Authors: Tiffany Brakefield, Helen Wilson, Geri Donenberg

Institutions: Rosalind Franklin University of Medicine and Science, University of Illinois Chicago

Language: English

Topic: Adolescent Sexual and Reproductive Health

Subfield: General Health Professions

Field: Health Professions

Domain: Health Sciences

SDGs: Good health and well-being, Gender equality

Open Access status: green

Funders: National Institutes of Health, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, University of Illinois at Chicago, National Institute of Mental Health