Open AccessConsent for HIV Testing Among Adolescent Sexual Minority Males: Legal Status, Youth Perceptions, and Associations with Actual Testing and Sexual Risk Behavior
Author(s) -
Kimberly M. Nelson,
Kristen Underhill,
Michael P. Carey
Publication year - 2019
Publication title -
aids and behavior
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.994
H-Index - 106
eISSN - 1573-3254
pISSN - 1090-7165
DOI - 10.1007/s10461-019-02424-9
Subject(s) - confidentiality , health psychology , psychology , clinical psychology , public health , test (biology) , perception , sexual misconduct , social psychology , medicine , law , political science , criminology , nursing , biology , neuroscience , paleontology
This brief report presents a preliminary investigation of the relations between minor consent laws for HIV testing/treatment and testing behavior among adolescent sexual minority males (ASMM; N = 127; ages 14-17). Most participants had legal capacity to consent without parental/guardian permission (HIV testing: 79%; HIV testing/treatment: 65%). Despite having this legal right, few (15%) had ever tested. Capacity to consent was not associated with HIV testing in this sample; nevertheless, those who had not disclosed their sexual activity to parents/guardians were less likely to have tested. Confidentiality concerns may be a barrier to testing for these youth despite laws intended to enable independent testing.