Department of Social Work, California State University Northridge, Northridge, CA 91330-8226, USA.
J Youth Adolesc. 2010 Apr;39(4):414-27. doi: 10.1007/s10964-009-9495-8. Epub 2009 Dec 18.
Latinas in the United States are at a disproportionate risk for STDs and sexual risk behaviors. Among Latinas, acculturation has been found to be one of the most important predictors of these behaviors. Therefore, this study examined the longitudinal association between Latina adolescents' level of acculturation and multiple sexual risk outcomes, including self-report STD diagnosis, four or more life-time sex partners, regret of sexual initiation after alcohol use, and lack of condom use during young adulthood. Based on the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health (Add Health), this study includes a nationally representative sample of 1,073 Latina adolescents (ages 11-20 at Wave 1) transitioning into young adulthood (ages 18-27 at Wave 3). Our findings indicate that more acculturated Latinas who spoke English at home were more likely to have STDs and to exhibit sexual risk behaviors than Latinas who were foreign-born and did not use English at home. Interventions that aim to promote sexual and reproductive health among young Latinas should take into consideration their different levels of acculturation. This approach holds greater potential for reducing health disparities among Latinas.
美国的拉丁裔女性面临着不成比例的性传播疾病（STD）和性风险行为的风险。在拉丁裔女性中，文化适应被认为是这些行为的最重要预测因素之一。因此，本研究考察了拉丁裔青少年文化适应水平与多种性风险结果之间的纵向关联，包括自我报告的 STD 诊断、四个或更多的终生性伴侣、饮酒后对性开始的后悔以及在年轻成人期缺乏使用避孕套。本研究基于全国青少年健康纵向研究（Add Health），包括一个具有全国代表性的 1073 名拉丁裔青少年样本（第 1 波时年龄为 11-20 岁），他们正在过渡到年轻成人期（第 3 波时年龄为 18-27 岁）。我们的研究结果表明，在家中说英语的文化程度较高的拉丁裔女性比那些出生在国外且在家中不使用英语的拉丁裔女性更有可能患有 STD，并表现出性风险行为。旨在促进年轻拉丁裔女性性健康和生殖健康的干预措施应该考虑到她们不同的文化适应水平。这种方法更有可能减少拉丁裔女性中的健康差距。
