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From Coitus to Concurrency: Sexual Partnership Characteristics and Risk Behaviors of 15–19 Year Old Men Recruited from Urban Venues in Tanzania

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Abstract

Understanding the uptake and patterns of sexual partnerships of adolescent males reveals their risky behaviors that could persist into adulthood. Using venue-based sampling, we surveyed 671 male youth ages 15–19 from an urban Tanzanian neighborhood about their sexual partnerships during the past 6 months. The proportion of males who had ever had sex increased with age (21 % at age 15; 70 % at age 17; 94 % at age 19), as did the proportion who engaged in concurrency (5 % at age 15; 28 % at age 17; 44 % at age 19). Attendance at ≥2 social venues per day and meeting a sexual partner at a venue was associated with concurrency. Concurrency was associated with alcohol consumption before sex among 18–19 year olds and with not being in school among 15–17 year olds. We find that concurrency becomes normative over male adolescence. Venue-based sampling may reach youth vulnerable to developing risky sexual partnership patterns.

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Acknowledgments

The Vijana Vijiweni Project was funded through grants from the National Institute of Mental Health (R21MH 080577) and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill’s Center for AIDS Research and Injury Prevention Research Center. The first author’s participation in the project was funded by the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill’s C.V. Starr International Award and Dissertation Travel Award from the Center for Global Initiatives, as well as a National Research Service Award for pre-doctoral training from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill’s Center for Infectious Diseases (NRSA-AI 7001-32).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of International Service, American University, 4400 Massachusetts Ave NW, Washington, DC, 20016-8071, USA

    Thespina J. Yamanis

  2. Division of Infectious Diseases, School of Medicine, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC, USA

    Irene A. Doherty

  3. Department of Epidemiology, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC, USA

    Sharon S. Weir

  4. Department of Health Behavior, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC, USA

    James M. Bowling & Suzanne Maman

  5. Department of Psychiatry and Mental Health, Muhimbili University of Health and Allied Sciences, Dar es Salaam, Tanzania

    Lusajo J. Kajula & Jessie K. Mbwambo

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  1. Thespina J. Yamanis
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  2. Irene A. Doherty
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  3. Sharon S. Weir
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Correspondence to Thespina J. Yamanis.

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Yamanis, T.J., Doherty, I.A., Weir, S.S. et al. From Coitus to Concurrency: Sexual Partnership Characteristics and Risk Behaviors of 15–19 Year Old Men Recruited from Urban Venues in Tanzania. AIDS Behav 17, 2405–2415 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10461-012-0312-0

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