188
Views
1
CrossRef citations to date
0
Altmetric
Articles

Discrimination and sexual risk among Caribbean Latinx young adults

, , &
Pages 639-652 | Received 29 Oct 2016, Accepted 24 Jan 2018, Published online: 02 Mar 2018
 

ABSTRACT

Objectives: Discrimination, such as being treated unfairly due to race, contributes to stress. Individuals may cope with this by engaging in risky behaviors. Consistent with this premise, prior studies found that discrimination is associated with substance use. Research has also shown that sex while ‘high’ on alcohol and drugs is associated with increased risk for HIV and other STIs. The present study examines the relationship between discrimination and sexual risk. We investigate whether discrimination is associated with sex while high on alcohol and drugs.

Design: Analyses focus on a sample of 356 Caribbean Diasporic young adults, primarily Caribbean Latinx, aged 18 to 25 who participated in the Drug Use and HIV Risk among Youth Survey carried out from 1997 to 2000 in Brooklyn, New York. Logistic regression examined the association between self-reported discrimination and sex while high.

Results: More than half (52.3%) of respondents reported moderate discrimination. Sex while high was also reported: 35.7% for alcohol, 43.3% for marijuana, and 32.6% for heroin/cocaine. Discrimination was associated with increased risk of sex while high on (1) marijuana and (2) heroin/cocaine, but was not with alcohol.

Conclusions: Discrimination may be a risk factor for engaging in sex while high on drugs, which may put individuals at risk for HIV as well as other STIs. Future research should explore relationships between discrimination and sex while high on alcohol and drugs among various racial/ethnic groups and Diasporas, while also assessing how this relationship may contribute to HIV incidence.

Acknowledgements

We would like to thank the California State University, San Bernardino Institute for Child Development and Family Relations for supporting the publication of this paper with funded writing time.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes

1 The term ‘Latinx’ is used to be inclusive of Latinos, Latinas, and persons who do not identify with a gender binary.

Log in via your institution

Log in to Taylor & Francis Online

PDF download + Online access

  • 48 hours access to article PDF & online version
  • Article PDF can be downloaded
  • Article PDF can be printed
USD 65.00 Add to cart

Issue Purchase

  • 30 days online access to complete issue
  • Article PDFs can be downloaded
  • Article PDFs can be printed
USD 440.00 Add to cart

* Local tax will be added as applicable

Related Research

People also read lists articles that other readers of this article have read.

Recommended articles lists articles that we recommend and is powered by our AI driven recommendation engine.

Cited by lists all citing articles based on Crossref citations.
Articles with the Crossref icon will open in a new tab.