TY - JOUR
T1 - Sexual Health Experiences Among High School Students With Disabilities
AU - Horner-Johnson, Willi
AU - Senders, Angela
AU - Higgins Tejera, César
AU - McGee, Marjorie G.
N1 - Funding Information:
This project was supported by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (Cooperative Agreement Number NU27DD000014 ) and the Administration for Community Living (Award Number 90DDUC0039 ). Its contents are solely the responsibility of the authors and do not necessarily represent the official views of CDC or ACL. Preliminary versions of portions of this work were presented at the 2018 Oregon Public Health Association annual meeting, the 2018 American Public Health Association annual meeting, and the 2019 International Association for the Scientific Study of Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities world congress.
Funding Information:
This project was supported by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (Cooperative Agreement Number NU27DD000014) and the Administration for Community Living (Award Number 90DDUC0039). Its contents are solely the responsibility of the authors and do not necessarily represent the official views of CDC or ACL. Preliminary versions of portions of this work were presented at the 2018 Oregon Public Health Association annual meeting, the 2018 American Public Health Association annual meeting, and the 2019 International Association for the Scientific Study of Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities world congress.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2021 Society for Adolescent Health and Medicine
PY - 2021/8
Y1 - 2021/8
N2 - Purpose: The purpose of this study was to investigate the sexual experiences of adolescents with and without disabilities. Methods: Data were from the 2015 and 2017 Oregon Healthy Teens survey, a state-wide representative sample of 11th grade students. We compared teens with and without disabilities on whether or not they had ever had sexual intercourse (N = 20,812). Among those who had ever had intercourse (N = 8,311), we used multivariable Poisson regression to measure the association between disability status and the prevalence of five sexual experiences. Results: After adjusting for sociodemographic characteristics, the prevalence of ever having had intercourse was 25% higher among teens with disabilities than among those without (adjusted prevalence ratio [aPR] 1.25, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.20–1.30). Among students who had had intercourse, the prevalence of having had intercourse before the age of 15 years (aPR 1.25, 95% CI: 1.14–1.47), having ≥ 2 lifetime sexual partners (aPR 1.13, 95% CI 1.07–1.19), having ≥ 2 sexual partners in the previous three months (aPR 1.23, 95% CI: 1.00–1.52), having used alcohol and/or drugs at the last intercourse (aPR 1.28, 95% CI: 1.10–1.48), and having condomless sex at the last intercourse (aPR 1.17, 95% CI: 1.08–1.27) was higher among students with disabilities than among students without disabilities. After accounting for sexual abuse, each of these associations was attenuated and most were no longer significant. Conclusions: Youth with disabilities are sexually active. Findings highlight the need for increased attention to sexual abuse prevention, sexual health promotion, and risk reduction efforts for this population.
AB - Purpose: The purpose of this study was to investigate the sexual experiences of adolescents with and without disabilities. Methods: Data were from the 2015 and 2017 Oregon Healthy Teens survey, a state-wide representative sample of 11th grade students. We compared teens with and without disabilities on whether or not they had ever had sexual intercourse (N = 20,812). Among those who had ever had intercourse (N = 8,311), we used multivariable Poisson regression to measure the association between disability status and the prevalence of five sexual experiences. Results: After adjusting for sociodemographic characteristics, the prevalence of ever having had intercourse was 25% higher among teens with disabilities than among those without (adjusted prevalence ratio [aPR] 1.25, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.20–1.30). Among students who had had intercourse, the prevalence of having had intercourse before the age of 15 years (aPR 1.25, 95% CI: 1.14–1.47), having ≥ 2 lifetime sexual partners (aPR 1.13, 95% CI 1.07–1.19), having ≥ 2 sexual partners in the previous three months (aPR 1.23, 95% CI: 1.00–1.52), having used alcohol and/or drugs at the last intercourse (aPR 1.28, 95% CI: 1.10–1.48), and having condomless sex at the last intercourse (aPR 1.17, 95% CI: 1.08–1.27) was higher among students with disabilities than among students without disabilities. After accounting for sexual abuse, each of these associations was attenuated and most were no longer significant. Conclusions: Youth with disabilities are sexually active. Findings highlight the need for increased attention to sexual abuse prevention, sexual health promotion, and risk reduction efforts for this population.
KW - Adolescent
KW - Child abuse
KW - Disabled persons
KW - Sexual abuse
KW - Sexual behavior
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U2 - 10.1016/j.jadohealth.2021.03.001
DO - 10.1016/j.jadohealth.2021.03.001
M3 - Article
C2 - 33902994
AN - SCOPUS:85106659537
SN - 1054-139X
VL - 69
SP - 255
EP - 262
JO - Journal of Adolescent Health
JF - Journal of Adolescent Health
IS - 2
ER -