Ecological Factors Associated with STD Risk Behaviors Among Detained Female Adolescents‪.‬

In the United States adolescents exhibit a higher incidence of sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) compared with other segments of the population (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention [CDC], 2002). For example, adolescents, although constituting 10 percent of the total population (U.S. Census Bureau, 2000), account for more than 60 percent of all reported STDs (Eng & Butler, 1997). However, incidence of STD infection varies among and within adolescent subgroups (CDC). For example, detained female youths reported a significantly higher incidence of disease compared with any other adolescent subgroup (Eng & Butler), including their male counterparts (Canterbury et al., 1995). Such disparities are not surprising given that most detained youths have participated in documented high-risk behaviors leading to arrest, and many enter detention with serious unmet biopsychosocial needs (Canterbury et al., 1995). In addition, female adolescents are at increased vulnerability for infection (CDC, 2002; Eng & Butler, 1997) partly due to a higher prevalence of STDs among their male sexual partners (Eng & Butler), power disparities in sexual encounters (Amaro, 1995; Crosby et al., 2000; Voisin, 2005), and biological factors (for example, cervical ectopy) (Ghys, Fransen, & Diallo, 1997).