Syndemic Profiles and Sexual Health Risks Among Sexually Exploited Adolescent Girls in Taiwan: A Latent Class Analysis.
Arch Sex Behav
; 52(4): 1631-1641, 2023 05.
Article
em En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-36749407
ABSTRACT
Sexually exploited adolescent girls are disproportionately affected by adverse psychosocial conditions, such as intra-familial child physical and sexual abuse, extra-familial violence and sexual assault, alcohol and drug use, and suicide. Syndemic theory suggests that these adverse psychosocial or syndemic conditions are concentrated and co-occurring in socially marginalized populations, including sexually exploited adolescents, and increase their sexual health risks, including pregnancy, abortion, and the acquisition of sexually transmitted diseases (STDs). To examine clusters of syndemic conditions, latent class analysis (LCA) was conducted to classify 335 sexually exploited girls in Taiwan into subgroups based on their probability of experiencing each syndemic condition. We used syndemic class membership to predict their sexual health outcomes, specifically pregnancy, abortion, and the acquisition of STDs. The results of LCA revealed three classes, which were "low-risk syndemic," "moderate-risk syndemic," and "high-risk syndemic." The risk of acquisition of STDs among sexually exploited girls in the "high-risk syndemic class" and "moderate-risk syndemic class" was 239% and 135% higher, respectively, than the risk of acquisition of STDs among sexually exploited girls in the "low-risk syndemic class." Differences between these three classes in pregnancy and abortion were not significant. Our findings support the syndemic theory that a pattern of syndemic conditions is associated with an increased risk of acquiring STDs. Interventions aimed at reducing the acquisition of STDs among sexually exploited girls in Taiwan should adopt a comprehensive approach to address co-occurring conditions.
Palavras-chave
Texto completo:
1
Coleções:
01-internacional
Base de dados:
MEDLINE
Assunto principal:
Infecções Sexualmente Transmissíveis
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Transtornos Relacionados ao Uso de Substâncias
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Saúde Sexual
Tipo de estudo:
Etiology_studies
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Prognostic_studies
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Risk_factors_studies
Limite:
Adolescent
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Female
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Humans
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Pregnancy
País/Região como assunto:
Asia
Idioma:
En
Revista:
Arch Sex Behav
Ano de publicação:
2023
Tipo de documento:
Article
País de afiliação:
Hong Kong