You are seeing this message because your Web browser does not support basic Web standards. Find out more about why this message is appearing and what you can do to make your experience on this site better.


ABOUT ARCHIVES
Advanced Search

Welcome   | My Account | E-mail Alerts | Access Rights | Sign In


  Vol. 149 No. 5, May 1995 TABLE OF CONTENTS
  Archives
  •  Online Features
  Articles
 This Article
 •References
 •Full text PDF
 •Send to a friend
 • Save in My Folder
 •Save to citation manager
 •Permissions
 Citing Articles
 •Citation map
 •Citing articles on HighWire
 •Contact me when this article is cited
 Related Content
 •Similar articles in this journal
 Social Bookmarking
  Add to CiteULike Add to Connotea Add to Del.icio.us Add to Digg Add to Reddit Add to Technorati Add to Twitter What's this?

Street Youth in Los Angeles

Profile of a Group at High Risk for Human Immunodeficiency Virus Infection

Michele D. Kipke, PhD; Susan O'Connor, MPH; Ray Palmer, MA; Richard G. MacKenzie, MD

Arch Pediatr Adolesc Med. 1995;149(5):513-519.


Abstract

Objective
To characterize an urban street youth population, their self-reported rates of drug use, and their involvement in behaviors that put them at risk for infection with the human immunodeficiency virus.

Design
A brief structured interview was administered to 409 youths who had been living on the streets for 2 or more consecutive months, or who were fully integrated into the "street economy."

Setting
Thirty percent of the sample were recruited from community-based service sites and 70% were recruited from street locations and at natural hangouts.

Participants
Youths were aged 12 to 23 years; 74% were male, 48% were ethnic minorities, 72% were homeless, 14% were gang affiliated, 20% were involved in drug dealing, 43% were engaged in survival sex (ie, the exchange of a sexual favor for money, food, a place to stay, clothes, and/or drugs), and 40% were homosexual or bisexual.

Results
Seventy percent of the youths were sexually active, with an average of 11.7 sexual partners (past 30 days). Youths with multiple sexual partners were more likely to have had a previous sexually transmitted disease (P<.01), to use drugs during sex (P<. 001), and to be involved in survival sex (P<.001). Marijuana (55%), methamphetamine (62%), and crack (38%) were the drugs of choice, with 30% of the sample reporting injecting drug use (58% of this subset reported injecting drug use within the past 30 days). Substance-abusing youth were 3.6 times more likely to use drugs during sex, 2.2 times more likely to engage in survival sex, and 2.5 times more likely to have been diagnosed as having a sexually transmitted disease.

Conclusions
High-risk sexual and drug use behaviors were prevalent and interrelated in this urban street youth sample. This suggests the need for new and innovative educational promotions and prevention interventions targeted to this population.

(Arch Pediatr Adolesc Med. 1995;149:513-519)



Author Affiliations

From the Division of Adolescent Medicine, Childrens Hospital Los Angeles (Calif).



Add to CiteULike CiteULike   Add to Connotea Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us Del.icio.us   Add to Digg Digg   Add to Reddit Reddit   Add to Technorati Technorati   Add to Twitter Twitter     What's this?

THIS ARTICLE HAS BEEN CITED BY OTHER ARTICLES

Feasibility Study of the Social Enterprise Intervention With Homeless Youth
Ferguson and Xie
Research on Social Work Practice 2008;18:5-19.
ABSTRACT  

Finding Homeless Youth: Patterns Based on Geographical Area and Number of Homeless Episodes
Witkin et al.
Youth Society 2005;37:62-84.
ABSTRACT  

HIV risk profile of male street youth involved in survival sex
Haley et al.
Sex. Transm. Infect. 2004;80:526-530.
ABSTRACT | FULL TEXT  

Mortality in a Cohort of Street Youth in Montreal
Roy et al.
JAMA 2004;292:569-574.
ABSTRACT | FULL TEXT  

Reaching homeless youths for Chlamydia trachomatis and Neisseria gonorrhoeae screening in Denver, Colorado
Van Leeuwen et al.
Sex. Transm. Infect. 2002;78:357-359.
ABSTRACT | FULL TEXT  

Public Opinion Toward Gay and Lesbian Teachers: Insights for All Public Employees
Lewis and Taylor
Review of Public Personnel Administration 2001;21:133-151.
ABSTRACT  

Hiv Risk Behavior of Runaway Youth in San Francisco: Age of Onset and Relation to Sexual Orientation
MOON et al.
Youth Society 2000;32:184-201.
ABSTRACT  

Methamphetamine and HIV-1: potential interactions and the use of the FIV/cat model
Phillips et al.
J Psychopharmacol 2000;14:244-250.
ABSTRACT  

Early Adolescent Street Youth: An Overlooked Population with Unique Problems and Service Needs
Unger et al.
The Journal of Early Adolescence 1998;18:325-348.
ABSTRACT  

Alternative Medicine Use by Homeless Youth
Breuner et al.
Arch Pediatr Adolesc Med 1998;152:1071-1075.
ABSTRACT | FULL TEXT  

Stress, Coping, and Social Support among Homeless Youth
Unger et al.
Journal of Adolescent Research 1998;13:134-157.
ABSTRACT  

Homeless Youths' Descriptions of their Parents' Child-Rearing Practices
KIPKE et al.
Youth Society 1997;28:415-431.
ABSTRACT  

Health Risks of Homeless Adolescents: Implications for Holistic Nursing
Rew
J Holist Nurs 1996;14:348-359.
ABSTRACT  





HOME | CURRENT ISSUE | PAST ISSUES | TOPIC COLLECTIONS | SUBMIT | SUBSCRIBE | HELP
CONDITIONS OF USE | PRIVACY POLICY | CONTACT US | SITE MAP
 
© 1995 American Medical Association. All Rights Reserved.