Does It Really Matter Which Drug You Choose? an Examination of the Influence of Type of Drug on Type of Risky Sexual Behavior

Adolescents’ sexual behavior has been a mainstay in the infectious diseases literature for over three decades due to their significantly high infection rates (CDC, 2006). The impact of rising STI rates has been especially devastating for impoverished African American youth (e.g., CDC, 2006). For the past 20 years, researchers have linked substance use to risky sexual behavior as a result of its presumed disinhibiting effects on decision-making. Much of the previous research on this topic, however, has not examined the effects of specific types of substances on specific types of risky sexual behaviors within the same sample of at-risk youth. Therefore, the purpose of the present investigation is to examine influence of the frequency-recency of use of specific types of substances on specific types of risky sexual behaviors to determine if certain drugs are independently predictive of specific risky sexual behaviors within a sample of low-income, African American youth from the Deep South. 9477 participants aged 9-19 were recruited from 13 impoverished neighborhoods in Mobile, AL to participate in a large, community-based survey of risky adolescent behaviors. Demographic, substance use, and risky sexual behavior data were collected between 1998 and 2007. Path modeling was used to predict four measures of risky sexual behavior (condom use measured at last intercourse and in the past 90 days, number of sexual partners, and sex while drunk or high) from alcohol, marijuana, and cocaine use. Results indicated that all substances were independently related to all RSBs, both within-participants and between-participants. The findings from this study suggest that substance use is an important predictor of risky sexual behavior among impoverished youth regardless of type of substance use and type of risky sexual behavior. Such findings support the development of intervention and prevention programs that are broader in terms of the types of behaviors addressed.