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Neighborhoods and Racial/Ethnic Disparities in Adolescent Sexual Risk Behavior

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Abstract

Understanding the determinants of racial/ethnic disparities in adolescent sexual risk behavior is important given its links to the differential risk of teen pregnancy, childbearing, and sexually transmitted infections. This article tests a contextual model that emphasizes the concentration of neighborhood disadvantage in shaping racial/ethnic disparities in sexual risk behavior. We focus on two risk behaviors that are prevalent among Black and Hispanic youth: the initiation of sexual activity in adolescence and the number of sex partners. Using data from the 1997 National Longitudinal Study of Youth (N = 6,985; 48 % female; 57 % non-Hispanic White) evidence indicates that neighborhood disadvantage—measured by concentrated poverty, unemployment rates, and the proportion of female-headed households—partially explains Black and Hispanic disparities from Whites in the odds of adolescent sexual debut, although the prevalence of female-headed households in neighborhoods appears to be the main driver in this domain. Likewise, accounting for neighborhood disadvantage reduces the Black-White and Hispanic-White disparity in the number of sexual partners, although less so relative to sexual debut. We discuss theoretical and practical implications of these findings.

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Acknowledgments

This paper was supported by Grant #5 R03 DA15717-02 from the National Institute of Drug Abuse (NIH). The views contained here reflect those of the authors. We thank the Center for Human Resources Research (CHRR) at The Ohio State University for their assistance.

Author Contributions

DC consulted on the design of the study, assisted with the analysis, and led the writing of the manuscript. TM conceived the study, performed the statistical analysis, and helped draft the manuscript; PB helped with the study conception, collected data, assisted with statistical analyses, and helped draft the manuscript. SW participated in the analysis and interpretation of results and helped to draft the manuscript. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Sociology, Georgia State University, P.O. Box 5020, Atlanta, GA, 30302-5020, USA

    Daniel L. Carlson

  2. Department of Sociology, University of Georgia, 113 Baldwin Hall, Athens, GA, 30602, USA

    Thomas L. McNulty

  3. Department of Sociology, The Ohio State University, 238 Townshend Hall, 1885 Neil Ave. Mall, Columbus, OH, 43210-1222, USA

    Paul E. Bellair

  4. Department of Criminal Justice, University of Wisconsin-Parkside, 367 Molinaro Hall, 900 Wood Rd., Kenosha, WI, 53141, USA

    Stephen Watts

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  1. Daniel L. Carlson
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  2. Thomas L. McNulty
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  4. Stephen Watts
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Correspondence to Daniel L. Carlson.

Appendix

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Table 4 Descriptive statistics by race/ethnicity
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Carlson, D.L., McNulty, T.L., Bellair, P.E. et al. Neighborhoods and Racial/Ethnic Disparities in Adolescent Sexual Risk Behavior. J Youth Adolescence 43, 1536–1549 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10964-013-0052-0

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