HIV/STD risk behaviors among in-school adolescents in post-conflict Liberia
Kennedy, S.B.; Atwood, K.A.; Harris, A.O.; Taylor, C.H.; Gobeh, M.E.; Quaqua, M.; Woods, D.V.; Bee, E.M.; Warlonfa, M.
Journal of the Association of Nurses in Aids Care Janac 23(4): 350-360
2012
ISSN/ISBN: 1552-6917 PMID: 21924644 DOI: 10.1016/j.jana.2011.05.005Document Number: 561770
We conducted a randomized trial to address the health needs of in-school adolescents in Liberia, where we analyzed data from a behavioral survey administered to 820 students from eight urban schools. Our findings suggest that adolescents are at significant risk for HIV and other sexually transmitted diseases (STDs): 36% of respondents were sexually experienced, 34% of those had first sex at ages 14 or younger, 66% of first sexual encounters were unprotected, and 16% were described as "forced." Also, females were more likely to have older boyfriends (Pearson's chi square = 19.2, p = .0001) and sex resulting in pregnancies (Pearson's chi square = 11.5, p = .01), while males were more likely to have a greater number of sexual partners (Pearson's chi square = 5.6, p = .05) in the previous 3 months. We recommend further research to explore challenges associated with implementing behavioral-driven studies in post-conflict environments.
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