Substance use and the development of sexual risk behaviors in youth perinatally exposed to HIV

Abstract

Objective: To examine the longitudinal association between sexual behavior and substance use in perinatally HIV-infected (PHIV+) and perinatally HIV-exposed-but-uninfected (PHIV-) youth. Methods: Growth curve modeling was used with data from N=340 PHIV-exposed youth (60.6% PHIV+; 9-22 years) to estimate the onset of penetrative and unprotected sex across time, adding alcohol and marijuana use trajectories as time-varying covariates and examining HIV-status differences. Results: The odds of penetrative or unprotected sex more than doubled across time. Alcohol and marijuana use significantly increased the odds of engaging in sex and unprotected sex, with no HIV-status differences. The association between unprotected sex and alcohol use was less salient for PHIV+ than PHIV- youth. Conclusions: Similar to youth from other populations, PHIV+ and PHIV- youth are increasingly engaging in sex and substance use as they age. Targeted interventions to prevent sexual risk behavior and further HIV transmission should address the influence of substance use.