These tools will no longer be maintained as of December 31, 2024. Archived website can be found here. PubMed4Hh GitHub repository can be found here. Contact NLM Customer Service if you have questions.


Pubmed for Handhelds

PUBMED FOR HANDHELDS

Search MEDLINE/PubMed

  • Title: Sexual activity and contraceptive use among children entering out-of-home care.
    Author: Risley-Curtiss C.
    Journal: Child Welfare; 1997; 76(4):475-99. PubMed ID: 9218339.
    Abstract:
    This study explored the prevalence of reported sexual activity of a cohort of children entering out-of-home care and the ability of selected factors to explain reported sexual activity and use or nonuse of contraceptives. It found that children as young as age 8 reported sexual activity, and that more than one-third of the children age 8 to 18 reported being sexually active. Of those who were sexually active, more than one-third were not using contraceptives. Using logistic regression, five variables are identified as having importance in explaining sexual activity. Two variables had some limited ability to explain contraceptive use. Implications of these findings are discussed and suggestions for policy and practice are made. The sexual development needs of children in out-of-home care (foster care or group homes) have been neglected by US child welfare agencies. To increase knowledge of the histories and needs of these vulnerable youth, data on 846 children 8-18 years of age from the University of Maryland at Baltimore Foster Care Health Project were analyzed. Within 24 hours of placement, all children underwent a health care screening, including questions on whether they were sexually active, used contraception, and had been treated for a sexually transmitted disease (STD). 289 of these children (34%) reported being sexually active. Of the adolescents 13-18 years old, 64% reported being sexually active, and 62.6 of the sexually active teenagers reported using contraceptives. 5 variables contributed significantly to the final model for sexual activity: age over 13 years (odds ratio (OR), 2.18), Caucasian race (OR, 0.47), history of behavior problems (OR, 2.23), homicidal behavior or ideation (OR, 3.00), and drug use (OR, 3.31). Only 2 variables contributed to the model of contraceptive use: male gender (OR, 3.7) and placement in care because of parental absence or incapacity (OR, 0.56), and their contribution was weak. Sexual activity in these children should be viewed as part of a multiple risk model and indicative of related problems such as drug use, child abuse and neglect, suicidality, and other psychiatric disorders. These findings suggest child welfare workers should receive special training in talking to foster children about sensitive matters such as sexual activity.
    [Abstract] [Full Text] [Related] [New Search]