Alcohol Use and HIV Risk Among Juvenile Drug Court Offenders

Abstract

Juvenile drug courts (JDCs) largely focus on marijuana and other drug use interventions. Yet, JDC offenders engage in other high-risk behaviors, such as alcohol use and sexual risk behaviors, which can compromise their health, safety, and drug court success. An examination of alcohol use and sexual risk behaviors among 52 male substance-abusing young offenders found that over 50% were using alcohol, 37% reported current marijuana use, and one third of all sexual intercourse episodes were unprotected. After accounting for recent marijuana use, the odds of a juvenile having vaginal or anal sex was 6 times greater if they had recently used alcohol. JDCs might benefit from delivering alcohol and sexual risk reduction interventions to fully address the needs of these young offenders.

Keywords:

• alcohol use
• HIV
• juvenile drug courts
• juvenile offenders
• marijuana
• sexual risk

Acknowledgments

We would like to thank the judges, court administrators, and case managers for their collaboration in implementing this study, and we are grateful to the juveniles for their participation.