Adolescent Sexual Behavior, Contraceptive Use, and STI Testing During the COVID-19 Pandemic (January-June 2021).

Details

• Alternative Title:
  Journal of Health Care for the Poor and Underserved, 2026, v. 36, no. 1: Adolescent Sexual Behavior, Contraceptive Use, and STI Testing During the COVID-19 Pandemic (January-June 2021).
• Journal Article:
  Journal of Health Care for the Poor and Underserved
• Personal Author:
  Licitis, Laima ; Szucs, Leigh E. ; Oberholtzer, Zach ; Krause, Kathleen H. ; Smith, Jennifer ; Young, Emily ; Fodeman, Ari ; Pampati, Sanjana
• Description:
  The COVID-19 pandemic affected adolescents' sexual and reproductive health (SRH) behaviors and access to services.
  
  We analyzed data from the 2021 Adolescent Behaviors and Experiences Survey (n=7,705) on sexual activity, condom and contraceptive use, and sexually transmitted infection (STI) testing. We tested differences in SRH outcomes by demographics, racism experience, and English proficiency.
  
  Current sexual activity was higher among students reporting ever experiencing racism at school and self-rating how well they can speak English as "not well." Condom use differed by sex, sexual identity, and sex of sexual contacts. Demographic differences in contraceptive use were also identified. Sexually active females (vs. males) and males with same-sex or both-sex contacts (vs. opposite-sex) had higher STI testing.
  
  Differences by students' demographic characteristics and experiences during the pandemic highlight needs to enhance accessibility and quality of adolescent SRH services and education in schools, clinics, and communities.
• Content Notes:
  Author manuscript
• Subjects:
  • Humans
  • Adolescent
  • COVID-19
  • Female
  • Male
  • Sexual Behavior
  • Sexually Transmitted Diseases
  • Contraception Behavior
  • Adolescent Behavior
  • Surveys and Questionnaires
  More +
• Keywords:
  • Sexual health
  • reproductive health
  • STI testing
  • contraception
  • condom use
  • COVID-19 pandemic
  • adolescents
  • youth
  • health services
• Source:
  Journal of Health Care for the Poor and Underserved, 2026, v. 36, no. 1
• DOI:
  https://doi.org/10.1353/hpu.2025.a951587
• ISSN:
  1049-2089 ; 1548-6869
• Pubmed ID:
  39957640
• Pubmed Central ID:
  PMC12767396
• Document Type:
  Text
• Funding:
  CC999999/ImCDC/Intramural CDC HHSUnited States/
• Genre:
  Journal Article
• Pages in Document:
  82-95 (13 pdf pages)
• Volume:
  36
• Issue:
  1
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/261676/cdc_261676_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 111.11 KB]
• Collection(s):
  CDC Public Access
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:16a2dc8319cd421431994aacb24a1bffe4504f5739c645278d474dd41c4182c9bcc99a4c91e9fa3dba64a88b021005694932de57dbbb202c784524567703e5cb