Citation URL: http://www.urban.org/LauraDubersteinLindberg

Objectives. This study assessed factors related to chlamydial infection among young men in the United States. Methods. Data were from interviews of nationally representative samples of 470 men aged 18 to 19 years (teenagers) and 995 men aged 22 to 26 years (young adults) and from urine specimens tested by means of polymerase chain reaction. Results. Although a majority of the men reported occasional unprotected intercourse, only a minority perceived themselves to be at risk for contracting a sexually transmitted disease (STD). Chlamydial infection was detected in 3.1% of the teenagers and 4.5% of the young adults. A minority of those infected had symptoms or had been tested for STDs; very few had been diagnosed with STDs. Conclusions. Chlamydial infection is common but usually asymptomatic and undiagnosed. Primary and secondary prevention efforts should be increased, particularly among young adult men. (Am J Public Health. 2002;92:1140–1143)

This booklet provides a statistical portrait of teen participation in 10 of the most prevalent risk behaviors. It focuses on the overall participation in each behavior and in multiple risk-taking. The booklet presents the overall incidence and patterns of teen involvement in the following risk behaviors: Regular alcohol use; Regular binge drinking; Regular tobacco use; Marijuana use; Other illegal drug use; Fighting; Weapon carrying; Suicidal thoughts; Suicide attempts; Risky sexual activity.

A handful of preventable health-risk behaviors-violence, substance use, suicide, and sexual activity-are responsible for much of the mortality and morbidity experienced in adolescence and early adulthood. Adolescents' participation in many of these health-risk behaviors has changed in recent years. Newspapers report increases in marijuana use among high school students one day and declines in their sexual or criminal activity another. Because changes in the prevalence of specific health-risk behaviors vary, some increasing and some declining, shifts in adolescents' overall exposure to health-risks are difficult to pinpoint. While it is well established that many risk behaviors co-occur changes in the extent and patterns of multiple risk-taking are unknown.

A portrait of multiple risk-taking among teens. Using recent data from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health (Add Health) and the 1995 National Survey of Adolescent Males (NSAM), we describe the degree to which teens engage in multiple health risk behaviors and contrast it with the extent to which teens participate in positive behaviors such as spending time with parents and being involved in extra-curricular activities. Describing participation in these behaviors is an important part of understanding teens' exposure to health risks and monitoring efforts to reduce those risks.

Many teenagers participate in behavior that threatens their current and future health. A handful of preventable behaviors, such as substance use, violence, and unprotected sexual intercourse, are responsible for much of the morbidity and mortality in adolescence and early adulthood. There is growing concern for adolescents who engage in more than one of these behaviors at a time. Teens who participate in multiple health risk behaviors face elevated threats to their well-being.

The authors analyze three cohorts of unmarried metropolitan teenage males: those aged 17-19 in 1979, in 1988 and in 1995. These time frames capture a period of increasing (1979 to 1988) then decreasing (1988 to 1995) sexual activity. By examining time periods with reversing trends, the authors offer a relatively strong framework within which to understand factors related to both increased and decreased sexual activity.

There is a glaring gap in teen pregnancy prevention efforts: information about how males could and should participate in programs to prevent teen pregnancy. This guide, funded by the California Wellness Foundation, fills that gap. The authors profile the male partners of teenage mothers to help planners understand the behaviors that need to be changed. They show planners how to get male teens involved through detailed descriptions of 24 of the nation's most promising prevention programs. Areas covered include the programs' funding and staffing, the barriers they have faced and overcome, and lessons they have learned about involving young men in their efforts.

The percentage of teenage males who have ever had sexual intercourse has declined since 1988, while the use of contraception at first intercourse among teenage males increased, according to new data from the 1995 National Survey of Adolescent Males. These findings parallel trends for teenage girls measured in the 1995 National Survey of Family Growth. The consistency of results for teenage boys and girls provides greater confidence in the findings from both surveys. These data are compatible with the recent decline of births to teenage girls. In general, they indicate that American youth have become more responsible in both their sexual and contraceptive behaviors.

The role of adult men in adolescent childbearing has received heightened attention in recent years, and new policy efforts have focused on statutory rape laws as a way to reduce adolescent childbearing. Analyses of the 1988 National Maternal and Infant Health Survey indicate, however, that these policies would not apply to most teenage births.

This paper focuses on the role of older men in teen births and examines five related questions about the young mothers and adult men involved in these partnerships. Discussed are (1) how many minor mothers have "older" (more than five years difference in age) partners; (2) which minor mothers have "older" partners; (3) how close are the relationships between minor mothers and "older" partners; (4) of men who father children with minors, are "older" men or similar-age men more desirable partners; and (5) are adult men who father children with minors more or less desirable partners than adult men who father children with adult women?

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