Challenging HIV through social networking
Study highlights pros and cons of online social networks for sexual health information of homeless youth
2010-12-07
(Press-News.org) Tapping into young people's use of online social networks presents health agencies with a powerful opportunity to help control the rise in HIV and other sexually transmitted infections in homeless youth in Los Angeles. According to new research1 by Sean Young from UCLA and Eric Rice from USC in the US, online social networking - and the topics discussed on these networks - have the potential to affect sexual risk behaviors. Targeting homeless youths with sexual health messages, by exploiting their use of these networks, is likely to be an effective way to reach and influence them to reduce sexual risk behaviors. The study is published online in Springer's journal AIDS and Behavior.
The rise in usage of online social networks among young people makes it easier for them to find sex partners online. Homeless youths are at higher risk of HIV than other adolescents in the US. In order to promote healthy sexual behaviors and prevent the spread of HIV and other sexually transmitted infections (STIs), it is important to understand the role that online social networking technologies play in the lives of these young people who face disproportionate risk.
A total of 201 youths, recruited at a drop-in agency serving homeless youth in Los Angeles, California, took part in the survey. The young people were asked about their use of the Internet and online social networks – including their topics of conversation online, their sexual risk behaviors, their lifetime history of testing for STIs, and their knowledge about HIV and STIs.
The majority (79 percent) of participants used online social networks almost every week and they were particularly likely to use MySpace and/or Facebook. When using these networks, young people frequently talked to others about videos, drinking, drugs and parties, sex, love and relationships, being homeless, and school experiences. Almost 80 percent had previously tested for STIs.
The findings tell two stories. On the one hand, the use of online social networks for partner seeking is associated with an increase in sexual risk behaviors. On the other hand, the use of social networks is associated with increased knowledge and HIV/STI prevention behaviors among homeless youth.
Young and Rice conclude: "Our findings suggest that online social networks are popular among homeless youth, and that they can be used as a tool for sexual health interventions. As online social networks continue to increase, these networks could potentially increase sexual risk behaviors by facilitating an easy way to meet new sex partners. They could also potentially decrease homeless youths' sexual risk behaviors if the networks are used as effective sexual health communication and information portals by health researchers and agencies, to inform users about their risks and offer information on how they can protect themselves."
INFORMATION:
Reference
Young SC & Rice E (2010). Online social networking technologies, HIV knowledge, and sexual risk and testing behaviors among homeless youth. AIDS and Behavior; DOI 10.1007/s10461-010-9810-0
The full-text article is available to journalists on request.
END
ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:
2010-12-07
A brand-new bacterial species has been found aboard the RMS Titanic, which is contributing to its deterioration. The discovery reveals a potential new microbial threat to the exterior of ships and underwater metal structures such as oil rigs.
The researchers, who report their findings in the latest issue of the International Journal of Systematic and Evolutionary Microbiology published on 8 December, isolated the micro-organisms from a 'rusticle', collected from the RMS Titanic, 3.8 km below the ocean surface.
The novel bacterium has been named Halomonas titanicae by ...
2010-12-07
Researchers in South America have studied the viability of using earthworms to process hazardous material containing high concentrations of heavy metal for the bioremediation of old industrial sites, landfill and other potentially hazardous areas. They provide details of a possible approach in the International Journal of Global Environmental Issues this month.
After pollinating insects, worms are probably the gardener's best friend and they have been encouraged to process garden waste and soil for generations. The common earthworm, Eisenia fetida, could also become a ...
2010-12-07
A team led by scientists at the United Kingdom's National Oceanography Centre have measured the air-sea exchange of carbon dioxide in the open ocean at higher wind speed then anyone else has ever managed. Their findings are important for understanding how interactions between the oceans and the atmosphere influence climate.
"Evaluating the factors influencing the transfer of gases such as carbon dioxide between the atmosphere and the ocean is needed for a full understanding of Earth's climate system," explained researcher John Prytherch of the National Oceanography Centre.
The ...
2010-12-07
A well-known paper-based medical chart used by pediatric emergency personnel across America is undergoing a 21st century boost in an collaborative effort between Virginia Tech's College of Engineering, Roanoke-based Carilion Clinic Children's Hospital, and the physician who created the original method some 25 years ago.
The Broselow Pediatric Emergency Tape – otherwise known as the Broselow Tape -- has been a staple of ERs and child trauma units for nearly three decades. Created by Hickory, N.C.-based physician James Broselow, the Broselow Tape is a long, durable tape ...
2010-12-07
Tel Aviv ― Naukrtis, a Greek trade emporium on Egyptian soil, has long captured the imagination of archaeologists and historians. Not only is the presence of a Greek trading settlement in Egypt during the 7th and 6th century B.C.E. surprising, but the Greeks that lived there in harmony hailed from several Greek states which traditionally warred amongst themselves.
Dr. Alexander Fantalkin of Tel Aviv University's Department of Archaeology is delving deeper into this unique piece of ancient history to come up with a new explanation for how Naukrtis developed, and ...
2010-12-07
Continued eutrophication of the Baltic Sea, combined with an ever thinner ozone layer, is favouring the toxic cyanobacterium Nodularia spumigena, reveals research from the University of Gothenburg, Sweden.
"There are several species of cyanobacteria, or blue-green algae, that can form surface blooms in the Baltic Sea," explains Malin Mohlin from the University of Gothenburg's Department of Marine Ecology. "Which species ends up dominating a bloom depends partly on how they deal with an increased amount of UV light and a shortage of nutrients. Nodularia spumigena is most ...
2010-12-07
Pregnant mums who regularly use mobile phones may be more likely to have kids with behavioural problems, particularly if those children start using mobile phones early themselves, suggests research published online in the Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health.
The researchers base their findings on more than 28,000 seven year olds and their mothers who were part of the Danish National Birth Cohort (DNBC) study.
This study enrolled nearly 100,000 pregnant women between 1996 and 2002, with the intention of tracking their kids' long term health.
The mums supplied ...
2010-12-07
Regulatory authorities should consider banning electronic cigarettes until safety concerns have been addressed, concludes research published online in Tobacco Control.
The researchers base their conclusions on an evaluation of six different brands of electronic nicotine delivery systems or ENDS. These are not tobacco products, but are designed to look and feel like regular cigarettes.
They are aimed at smokers for use in places where cigarette smoking is not permitted as they don't produce smoke. They usually consist of a battery, an atomiser, and a replaceable cartridge ...
2010-12-07
The gap in flu vaccination rates between elderly whites, African-Americans and Hispanics is amplified when vaccine supply is limited or delayed. That is the conclusion of a study out today in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine.
The study found that disparities in seasonal influenza vaccination rates between the groups grew by as much as 7 percentage points in years when there were problems with vaccine supply. By contrast, the gap narrowed by as much as 11 percentage points during years when the supply was more timely and abundant.
"There is a strong ...
2010-12-07
Personality is not just a feature unique to humans and pets. Scientists at the University of Gothenburg (Sweden) have revealed that also brown trout have individual characters and show different personalities.
Researcher Bart Adriaenssens from the Department of Zoology at the University of Gothenburg has for many years studied the behaviour of juvenile trout from watercourses on the west coast of Sweden.
"My results show that it are not just humans and other mammals that exhibit personality. Also brown trout differ among each other in their level of aggression and react ...
LAST 30 PRESS RELEASES:
[Press-News.org] Challenging HIV through social networking
Study highlights pros and cons of online social networks for sexual health information of homeless youth
