Cook Stephanie H, Bauermeister José A, Zimmerman Marc A
Department of Health Behavior and Health Education, School of Public Health, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI.
Emerg Adulthood. 2016 Aug;4(4):284-297. doi: 10.1177/2167696815611529. Epub 2015 Oct 22.
Emerging adults (EAs)ages 18 to 24 account for a large proportion of all sexually transmitted infections (STIs), HIV infections, and unintended pregnancies in the United States. Given the increased influence of online media on decision-making, we examined how EA online networks were associated with sexual risk behaviors. We used egocentric network data collected from EAs aged 18 to 24 years old across the United States (N=1,687) to examine how online norms (e.g., acceptance of HIV infections, other STIs, and pregnancy) and network characteristics (i.e., network size and density; ties' closeness, race, age, and sex similarities) were associated with participants' unprotected vaginal intercourse (UVI) in the last 30 days. Findings suggested that in male EAs, there was a strong association between sexual norms, structural characteristics, and sexual risk behavior compared to females. Researchers and practitioners may wish to address online peer norms and EAs' online network composition when developing online sexual risk prevention tools.
18至24岁的新兴成年人在美国所有性传播感染（STIs）、艾滋病毒感染和意外怀孕中占很大比例。鉴于网络媒体对决策的影响日益增加，我们研究了新兴成年人的在线社交网络与性风险行为之间的关联。我们使用从美国各地18至24岁的新兴成年人中收集的自我中心网络数据（N = 1687），来研究在线规范（例如，对艾滋病毒感染、其他性传播感染和怀孕的接受程度）和网络特征（即网络规模和密度；关系的亲密度、种族、年龄和性别相似性）如何与参与者在过去30天内的无保护阴道性交（UVI）相关联。研究结果表明，与女性相比，男性新兴成年人的性规范、结构特征和性风险行为之间存在很强的关联。在开发在线性风险预防工具时，研究人员和从业者可能希望关注在线同伴规范和新兴成年人的在线社交网络构成。
