Delinquent Youth Have More High-Risk HIV/AIDS Sex Behaviors as They Age – Northwestern Now

According to a new study by Northwestern University’s Feinberg School of Medicine, as they age, juvenile offenders are more likely to engage in sexual behaviors that increase the risk of HIV/AIDS infection. The study followed delinquent youths for 14 years after detention and found that one-quarter of men and one-tenth of women had more than one sexual partner in the prior three months—compared to 18 percent of men and 14 percent of women in a national sample of individuals from age 15 to 44 who reported having more than one partner in the previous year. The study also found significant disparities in terms of race/ethnicity and gender. For example, African-American men were over four times more likely to have more than one sexual partner than African-American women were. Likewise, African-American men were twice as likely to have multiple partners than non-Hispanic white males were. Read the full article.