TY - JOUR
T1 - Integrating Individual and Contextual Factors to Explain Disparities in HIV/STI Among Heterosexual African American Youth
T2 - A Contemporary Literature Review and Social Ecological Model
AU - Banks, Devin E.
AU - Hensel, Devon J.
AU - Zapolski, Tamika C.B.
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2020, Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, part of Springer Nature.
PY - 2020/8/1
Y1 - 2020/8/1
N2 - Heterosexual African American youth face substantial disparities in sexual health consequences such as HIV and STI. Based on the social ecological framework, the current paper provides a comprehensive, narrative review of the past 14 years of literature examining HIV/STI risk, including risky sexual behavior, among heterosexual African American youth and a conceptual model of risk among this population. The review found that individual psychological and biological factors are insufficient to explain the sexual health disparities faced by this group; instead, structural disadvantage, interpersonal risk, and community dysfunction contribute to the disparity in HIV/STI outcomes directly and indirectly through individual psychological factors. The conceptual model presented suggests that for African American youth, (1) HIV/STI risk commonly begins at the structural level and trickles down to the community, social, and individual levels, (2) risk works in a positive feedback system such that downstream effects compound the influence of structural risks, and (3) contextual and individual risk factors must be considered within the advanced stage of the epidemic facing this population. Despite advanced HIV and STI epidemics among heterosexual African American youth, multisystemic interventions that target structural risk factors and their downstream effects are posited to reduce the disparity among this high-risk population.
AB - Heterosexual African American youth face substantial disparities in sexual health consequences such as HIV and STI. Based on the social ecological framework, the current paper provides a comprehensive, narrative review of the past 14 years of literature examining HIV/STI risk, including risky sexual behavior, among heterosexual African American youth and a conceptual model of risk among this population. The review found that individual psychological and biological factors are insufficient to explain the sexual health disparities faced by this group; instead, structural disadvantage, interpersonal risk, and community dysfunction contribute to the disparity in HIV/STI outcomes directly and indirectly through individual psychological factors. The conceptual model presented suggests that for African American youth, (1) HIV/STI risk commonly begins at the structural level and trickles down to the community, social, and individual levels, (2) risk works in a positive feedback system such that downstream effects compound the influence of structural risks, and (3) contextual and individual risk factors must be considered within the advanced stage of the epidemic facing this population. Despite advanced HIV and STI epidemics among heterosexual African American youth, multisystemic interventions that target structural risk factors and their downstream effects are posited to reduce the disparity among this high-risk population.
KW - African American
KW - HIV risk
KW - Risky sexual behavior
KW - STI
KW - Youth
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85081933266&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1007/s10508-019-01609-6
DO - 10.1007/s10508-019-01609-6
M3 - Article
C2 - 32157486
AN - SCOPUS:85081933266
SN - 0004-0002
VL - 49
SP - 1939
EP - 1964
JO - Archives of Sexual Behavior
JF - Archives of Sexual Behavior
IS - 6
ER -