Teen-agers often mix unsafe sex with drink, drug - Econdoms guide
|
 |
Teen-agers often mix unsafe sex with drink, drug |
|
|
ATLANTA, Georgia (CNN) --Alcohol and drug use affects whether young people have sex, how many partners they have -- and whether they use condoms to guard against disease, a study released Thursday found.
Among the findings from the study by the Kaiser Family Foundation, 43 percent of the 15- to 24-year-olds surveyed reported they are concerned they "might do more sexually than (they) had planned because of alcohol or drugs." Almost a quarter (23 percent) of sexually active young people aged 15 to 24 reported having unprotected sex while using drugs or drinking alcohol.
The study results come from interviews with 998 15- to 24-year-olds conducted between November 2001 and January 2002. The Kaiser Family Foundation released a synopsis of it Thursday at a conference sponsored by the National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse at Columbia University in New York. Questions about personal sexual behavior were not asked of the 202 13-to 14-year-olds who also responded to the survey.
Of the young people surveyed, nearly four out of 10 teen-agers aged 15 to 17 (37 percent); and eight out of 10 young adults from 18- to 24-years-old (81 percent), say they have had sex.
That drugs and alcohol influence sexual behavior is not new, researchers state, but data to reveal the extent that the chemicals have a bearing is, said Matt James, vice-president of the Kaiser Family Foundation.
"This is the very first time that there has ever been numbers of young people who have been asked these questions," James said. "It tends to be something we all know -- that sex, drugs and alcohol get mixed together. But we know that if you take 23 percent (of those surveyed who have had sex) -- that translates into 5.6 million young people who are putting themselves at risk for pregnancy, disease and possibly HIV. Those are life-changing events."
More than a third, 36 percent, of sexually active youth in the surveyed group reported that alcohol or drugs affected their decision about sex.
When using alcohol or drugs, the young people were more likely to engage in risky behavior -- defined as having intercourse with casual partners, inconsistent condom use and having multiple partners during their lifetime.
Almost 40 percent said they wanted information about how drugs and drink affected their decision, the study revealed.
A list of facts compiled by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention from various research projects and released along with the Kaiser findings stated:
-- Teens who use alcohol or drugs are more likely to have sex than those who do not.
-- Almost 1 out of 5 people between 13 and 19 were drinking the first time they had sex.
-- 22 percent of 14- to 22-year-old males who have used substances used condoms the last time they had intercourse; 65 percent of nonsubstance users wore condoms the last time they had sex.
"This ought to be a wake-up call for people who are involved in the lives of young people," James said. "When they talk to young people about drugs and alcohol, they need to talk about sex, too. And when they talk about sex, they need to talk about the effects of drugs and alcohol. Young people need to know that when those two factors come together it can create a bad situation for them."
CNN
|
|
|
