Premium
Sexual Health Practices of Homeless Youth
Author(s) -
Rew Lynn,
Fouladi Rachel T.,
Yockey Ronald D.
Publication year - 2002
Publication title -
journal of nursing scholarship
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.009
H-Index - 80
eISSN - 1547-5069
pISSN - 1527-6546
DOI - 10.1111/j.1547-5069.2002.00139.x
Subject(s) - sexual orientation , condom , psychology , psychological intervention , reproductive health , assertiveness , population , clinical psychology , social cognitive theory , medicine , developmental psychology , social psychology , psychiatry , human immunodeficiency virus (hiv) , family medicine , environmental health , syphilis
Purpose: To describe the sexual health practices of homeless adolescents, examine relationships among variables in a conceptual model of sexual health practices, and determine direct and indirect effects of population characteristics, cognitive‐perceptual factors, and behavioral factors on sexual health practices among homeless adolescents. Design and Methods: Descriptive exploratory design. A survey was administered to a convenience sample of 414 homeless young men (244) and young women (170) aged 16–20 years, the majority of whom were Anglo American. Findings: Thirty‐five percent reported homosexual or bisexual orientation, and sexual orientation was reported as a reason for leaving home. Over half reported a history of sexual abuse and nearly one in four had been treated for gonorrhea. Safe‐sex behaviors were related to age, time away from home, assertive communication, social support, future time perspective, connectedness, perceived health status, intentions to use condoms, and condom self‐efficacy. A parsimonious model with good fit indicated that the only direct paths to safe‐sex behaviors were future time perspective, intentions to use condoms, and self‐efficacy to use condoms, and the direct paths to sexual self‐care behaviors were from assertive communication, social support, and self‐efficacy to use condoms. Conclusions: As in other studies of homeless youth, respondents reported a high incidence of sexual abuse and homosexual and bisexual orientation. Their safe‐sex behaviors were surprisingly similar to those of university students, were modestly related to cognitive‐perceptual variables in the sexual health model, and might be amenable to brief culturally relevant interventions.