FACTORS ASSOCIATED WITH MULTIPLE SEX PARTNERS AMONG JUNIOR-HIGH-SCHOOL STUDENTS

Twenty-one percent of a sample of inner-city junior high school studen ts were found to be sexually active (n = 403). Only 31% of them report ed a single lifetime sexual partner, 25% reported two partners, and 43 % reported three or more partners. Logistic regression analysis evalua ted the influence of demographic, psychosocial, and behavioral factors on the adolescents' lifetime number of sex partners. Respondents whos e sexual debut occurred before age 13 years were nine times more likel y to report three or more sex partners compared with those whose first sexual intercourse was at age 15 or 16 years, blacks were four times more likely than non-Hispanic whites to report three or more sex partn ers; and males were four times as likely as females to report this num ber of sexual partners. Factors not independently associated with the number of sex partners included: age, Asian or Hispanic ethnicity, hum an immunodeficiency virus (HIV) knowledge, self-efficacy (belief that one can protect oneself from the virus), condom use, and alcohol and d rug use. We conclude that a significant proportion of school-based mid dle adolescents are sexually active and that most of these are at risk for contracting HIV because of behaviors such as having multiple sexu al partners. Topics often stressed in school-based HIV education, such as factual knowledge about HIV, avoiding drugs and alcohol, and condo m use are not associated with adolescents' choice about their number o f sex partners. Intervention programs will have to identify and then t arget each specific HIV risk behavior and its motivations in order to reduce adolescents' risks of contracting and transmitting the disease.