Abstract
There has been significant interest in the role of social media in the lives of adolescents, particularly as it relates to sexual risk. Researchers have focused on understanding usage behaviors, quantifying effects of social media exposure and activity, and using social media to intervene. Much of this work has focused on college students and non-minority youth. In this paper, we examine the growing body of literature around social media use among US minority youth and its intersection with sexual risk behavior. We introduce the concept of the “digital neighborhood” and examine the intersection of social media and sexual health in two domains: 1) sexual content in social media and 2) evidence of social media effects on sexual behavior. Finally, we discuss the opportunities and challenges for researchers and practitioners engaging youth of color.
Highlights
IntroductionAfrican American and Latino youth report considerably younger ages of sexual debut and face significantly greater risk for Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) and other sexually transmitted infections (STIs) when compared to their white peers
Despite continued intervention efforts, African American and Latino youth report considerably younger ages of sexual debut and face significantly greater risk for Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) and other sexually transmitted infections (STIs) when compared to their white peers
In 2011, African American youth accounted for 15% of the US population aged 13 to 19 years, yet they represented 67% of HIV diagnoses in this age demographic
Summary
African American and Latino youth report considerably younger ages of sexual debut and face significantly greater risk for Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) and other sexually transmitted infections (STIs) when compared to their white peers. In 2011, African American youth accounted for 15% of the US population aged 13 to 19 years, yet they represented 67% of HIV diagnoses in this age demographic (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention [CDC], 2013). African American adolescents are more likely to contract an STI (e.g., Gonorrhea, Chlamydia, or Syphilis) than white adolescents, even when controlling for socio-demographic variables and risky sexual behavior (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2012; Dariotis, Sifakis, Pleck, Astone, & Sonenstein, 2011). While Hispanic youth face a lower risk of HIV/STI infection than African American adolescents, the risks for Hispanic adolescents are still higher than that of white youth (CDC, 2012). Though African American youth are at an elevated risk for HIV/STIs, they report higher levels of condom use and lower sexual frequency than their white counterparts
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