Marijuana Use and HIV risk in African American Girls

描述(由申请人提供)：迫切需要解决美国非裔美国人，特别是非裔美国女性中艾滋病毒/艾滋病不成比例的问题。据推测，青少年吸毒和性行为的交集加剧了他们感染艾滋病毒的风险。通过对马里兰州巴尔的摩14-19岁的城市非裔美国女孩进行为期3年的前瞻性队列研究，这项研究建议检查青少年恋爱关系中从吸食大麻到感染艾滋病毒风险的两条途径。我们将首先检验这一假设，即女孩最近使用大麻是这群青春期女孩发生性传播感染的独立预测因素。其次，我们将通过测试性行为时使用大麻是否与持续使用避孕套相关，来解决解除抑制的途径。最后，将研究从女孩最近吸食大麻到性传播感染事件的第二条途径。具体地说，我们将测试伴侣的特征(即年龄较大)是否会影响这种联系 在女孩使用大麻和性传播感染结果之间的关系，并确定伴侣使用大麻是否混淆了女孩使用大麻和性传播感染之间的联系。更好的理解将 帮助制定更有效的艾滋病毒预防方案。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): There is an urgent need to address the disproportionate rates of HIV/AIDS among African Americans in the United States, particularly African American females. It has been postulated that the intersection of drug use and sexual behavior among adolescents exacerbates their risk for HIV. Using a 3 year prospective cohort study of urban African American girls, ages 14-19, in Baltimore, MD, this study proposes to examine 2 pathways from marijuana use to risk for HIV within adolescent romantic relationships. We will first test the hypothesis that girls' recent marijuana use is an independent predictor of incident STI in this population of adolescent girls. Second, we will address the disinhibition pathway by testing whether marijuana use at the time sex is associated with consistent condom use. Finally, a second pathway leading from girls' recent marijuana use to incident STI will be examined. Specifically, we will test whether partner characteristics (i.e. older age), mediate the association between girl's marijuana use and STI outcome and determine whether partner marijuana use confounds the association between girl's marijuana use and STI. An improved understanding will contribute to the development of more effective HIV prevention programs.