Adolescents’ Risky Sexual Behavior--论文代写范文

研究青少年的性行为是很重要的,与中年人相比,青少年和年轻人尤其容易被传染性病的危险。例如,在美国,20到24岁之间的年轻女性意外怀孕率最高,衣原体感染的发病率是最常见的性病。下面的essay代写范文进行论述。

INTRODUCTION 
  Recent years have seen a widespread public concern with the practice of safe sex. While this concern has been brought on mainly by the AIDS epidemic, the benefits of safe sex include protection against other sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) and unwanted pregnancies. In particular, sexual risk-taking behavior, or unsafe sex, is a prevalent problem among teenagers. Broadly defined, sexual risk-taking behaviors include unprotected sex, unfamiliarity with the partner, and multiple partners. While the last two outcomes are not necessarily risky behaviors, they are included under the rubric of risky sexual behavior because when the partner is not well known and when there are multiple partners, it is more likely that the infection status of the partner is unknown. Knowledge of the infection status can lead to practices such as condom use or abstinence, which compensate for the risk of contracting an STD [Laumann et al., 1994]. 

  Studying the sexual behavior of teenagers is important because when compared to older adults, teenagers and young adults are particularly at risk for contracting an STD or having an unwanted pregnancy. For example, among Americans, young women between the ages of 20 and 24 have the highest rate of unintended pregnancy, and teenage women between the ages of 15 and 19 have the second highest rate [Henshaw, 1998]. Incidence rates of chlamydia and gonorrhea—the two most common reportable STDs—are also high among American teenagers and young adults. In 2000, the chlamydia incidence rate was 258 per 100,000 population for persons of all ages, 1,373 for teenagers, and 1,404 for young adults [CDC, 2000]. The corresponding gonorrhea incidence rates were 132, 516, and 623, respectively. Approximately one-quarter of all new human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infections in the United States occur among teenagers and young adults [CDC, 1997]. Thus, the focus on teenagers is significant since the health and development of teens are particularly affected by their sexual behavior.

  An important question for policy purposes is to identify what induces teens to engage in unsafe sex. Two of the most commonly cited correlates of risky sexual behavior are alcohol and drug use. Numerous studies have shown a positive association between substance use and risky sexual practices (see Leigh and Stall [1993] and Donovan and McEwan [1995] for reviews of this literature). For example, studies such as Graves and Leigh [1995] show that young adults who drink heavily or use marijuana are more likely to be sexually active and to have multiple partners, and those who are heavy drinkers are also less likely to use condoms. Evidence also comes from Strunin and Hingson [1992] and Fergusson and Lynskey [1996], who show that alcohol use by teenagers is associated with unprotected intercourse. 

  Rosenbaum and Kandel [1990] show that prior use of alcohol or illegal drugs increases the risk of initiating intercourse prior to age sixteen. It is important to note that none of these studies establishes a causal relationship from drugs and alcohol use to risky sex, rather, these studies highlight an association. There are several competing explanations of the observed association, each with different implications for a possible causal relationship between substance use and sexual behaviors. Laumann et al. [1994] propose that alcohol and drugs may enhance sexual desire, and that substance use may result in impaired judgment and may increase the likelihood that condoms and other birth control methods are not used. This theory implies that alcohol and drug use cause risky sexual practices. 

  In contrast, according to Jessor and Jessor’s [1977] “problem behavior theory,” the two outcomes are manifestations of a common personality trait. This suggests that risky sex and substance use are associated only because both are related to an unmeasured third variable, such as a thrill-seeking personality. Leigh and Stall [1993] find support for this theory by citing many studies that show that cigarette smoking is also highly correlated with risky sex. It is hard to argue that smoking is an indicator of temporary lapses in judgment, which is one argument for why alcohol use may cause risky sex. Finally, Cooper, Skinner, and George [1990] point out that a teenager who chooses to have many sexual partners may use drugs and alcohol to cope with society’s negative view of such behavior. In effect, the teenager consumes these substances to lower the psychic costs of risky sex. In this scenario, the sexual behavior is the impetus for substance use, therefore, risky sex may cause the substance use. Reverse causality may also occur when a youth is introduced to or obtains drugs and alcohol from a sex partner. This is more likely the earlier the youth begins to have sex, the more sexual partners that he or she has, and the older his or her partners are. Note that these reverse causality arguments may not apply when considering substance use and safe sex practices (for example, birth control).

  The studies discussed above that show a relationship between substance use and risky sexual behaviors fail to provide evidence for or against causality. A number of researchers have tried to provide evidence by conducting event-level research, which involves an in-depth examination of the situational characteristics surrounding specific sexual events. Specifically, these studies compare the likelihood of engaging in safe sex when alcohol or other substances have been used to the likelihood of engaging in safe sex when alcohol or other substances have not been used. Weinhardt and Carey [2000] provide a detailed review of this literature and find a lack of evidence that alcohol use causes unprotected sex. 

  Many of the studies reviewed, however, pertain to college students and adults. Regarding adolescents, the authors note that, “Adolescents whose first experiences with sexual intercourse occur under the influence of alcohol are less likely to have planned for sexual activity and contraception and/or HIV-risk-reduction strategies are less likely to be used.” [Weinhardt and Carey, 2000]. Insights from the economics literature may provide some clues as to the nature of the relationship between substance use and risky sexual behaviors through the use of statistical techniques that account for unmeasured factors that may otherwise bias estimates. One important paper from this literature is by Kaestner and Joyce [2001], who examine the effects of substance use on the probability of unintended pregnancy and contraception use. 

  Using the 1984 and 1988 waves of the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth (NLSY), the authors try to establish causality from substance use to unintended pregnancy using instrumental variable and fixed effects techniques. They estimate the equations separately by race and find that, when the unmeasured individual traits are controlled for in the fixed effects models, alcohol use increases the likelihood of unintended pregnancy and lowers contraception use for whites, while drug use has no statistically significant effects. By contrast, substance use is statistically unrelated to unintended pregnancy for blacks and Hispanics. Estimates using instrumental variables were found to be unreliable because of the lack of powerful instruments in predicting drug and alcohol use.（essay代写)

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