SSW Research Study Supports Link Between Acculturation and Sexual Risk Behaviors among Young Latina Women

A new study in health behaviors among Latina adolescents, authored by Assistant Professor Hyeouk Chris Hahm and post-doctoral researcher Jieha Lee, sheds an alarming light on sexual risk behaviors among Latinas who are transitioning to young adulthood.

Hahm’s study, “Acculturation and Sexual Risk Behaviors among Latina Adolescents Transitioning to Young Adulthood,” found just over one half of Latino students (51 percent) reported having had sexual intercourse, compared with 43 percent of white students. The reason for this increased risk was behavioral: Latinas were less likely to use condoms during intercourse than white females, placing them at a greater risk for sexually transmitted diseases (STD) infection.

Latinos are one of the fastest growing demographic groups in the United States, and also face disproportionate risk for contracting sexually transmitted diseases (STDs). According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Latinas contracted Chlamydia and gonorrhea at two to three times the rate of white females in 2007. In 2006, the rate of HIV/AIDS cases per 100,000 was over five times that of white females.

Yet the main factor, Hahm and Lee revealed, was acculturation. The researchers examined the longitudinal association between Latina adolescents’ level of acculturation and multiple sexual risk outcomes, including self-report STD diagnosis, four or more life-time sex partners, and regret of sexual initiation after alcohol use and lack of condom use during young adulthood.

“Among Latinas, acculturation has been found to be one of the most important predictors of [sexual risk] behaviors,” Hahm said. “Interventions that aim to promote sexual and reproductive health among young Latinas should take into consideration their different levels of acculturation. This approach holds greater potential for reducing health disparities among Latinas.”

Based on the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health, this study included a nationally representative sample of 1,073 Latina adolescents transitioning into young adulthood. The study Their findings indicated that more acculturated Latinas who spoke English at home were more likely to have STDs and to exhibit sexual risk behaviors than Latinas who were foreign-born and did not use English at home.

While the study makes a contribution to the growing literature on factors affecting sexual and reproductive health among adolescent and young Latinas, Hahm feels that more studies with rigorous research design are necessary.

"Promising areas of future research needs to clarify the protective and adverse effects that influence the sexual and reproductive lives of young Latinas, and find ways to maintain positive influences as the acculturation process continues.”

Assistant Professor Hyeouk Chris Hahm