Factors Associated with Risky Sexual Behavior Among Homeless Youth

• Main Author: Cooksey, Christy
• Other Authors: Cready, Cynthia M.
• Format: Others
• Language: English
• Published: University of North Texas 2011
• Subjects: Homeless youth; resilience; parental monitoring; parental warmth; self-esteem
• Online Access: https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc67969/

Homeless youth face numerous risks. Data on 602 homeless youth from the Midwest Homeless and Runaway Study and binary logistic regression were used to identify factors associated with their participation in risky sexual behaviors. Specifically, the effects of abuse/neglect and three potential moderating resiliency indicators, namely self-esteem, parental warmth, and parental monitoring, on having sex before adulthood and thinking about trading sex for food or shelter were examined. While none of the three resiliency indicators had the hypothesized moderating effects, controlling for abuse/neglect and various sociodemographic characteristics, parental monitoring had a direct, negative effect on having sex before adulthood, and self-esteem and parental warmth had direct, negative effects on thinking about trading sex for food or shelter. Policy implications of the findings are discussed.