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This Article Full Text Full Text (PDF) All Versions of this Article: AJPH.2005.065870v1 96/6/1104    most recent Submit a response Purchase Article View Shopping Cart Alert me when this article is cited Alert me when eLetters are posted Alert me if a correction is posted Services Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in ISI Web of Science Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Citing Articles Citing Articles via HighWire Citing Articles via ISI Web of Science (2) Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Saewyc, E. Articles by Murphy, A. Search for Related Content PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Saewyc, E. Articles by Murphy, A. Related Collections Adolescent Health School Health HIV/AIDS Sexual Health Lesbian/Gay/Bisexual/Transgender Persons Surveys

Elizabeth Saewyc, PhD, RN, Phn, Carol Skay, PhD, Kimberly Richens, BSN, RN, Elizabeth Reis, MS, Colleen Poon, PhD and Aileen Murphy, MA

Elizabeth Saewyc, Colleen Poon, and Aileen Murphy are with the McCreary Centre Society, Vancouver, British Columbia. Elizabeth Saewyc is also with the School of Nursing and the Division of Adolescent Medicine, Department of Pediatrics, University of British Columbia, Vancouver. Kimberly Richens was with, and Carol Skay is with, the School of Nursing, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis. Elizabeth Reis is with Public Health–Seattle and King County, Washington.

Correspondence: Requests for reprints should be sent to Elizabeth Saewyc, PhD, RN, PHN, University of British Columbia School of Nursing, T201-2211 Wesbrook Mall, Vancouver, BC, Canada V6T 2B5 (e-mail: saewyc{at}interchange.ubc.ca).

Objectives. We explored HIV risk behaviors, sexual orientation, and sexual abuse among 5 school-based cohorts in Seattle, Wash (SEA95 and SEA99:N=7477 and N=6590), and British Columbia (BC92, BC98, and BC03 [weighted]: N=239975, N=281576, and N=265132).

Methods. An HIV risk scale of 7 items assessed risky sexual behaviors and injection drug use. Self-identified sexual orientation included heterosexual, bisexual, gay/lesbian, and, in British Columbia only, mostly heterosexual. Analyses of covariance were conducted separately by gender and were adjusted for age and sexual abuse when comparing means.

Results. Gay/lesbian and bisexual adolescents had higher mean age-adjusted risk scores compared with heterosexual and mostly heterosexual adolescents. After we controlled for sexual abuse history, mean scores were 2 to 4 times higher among abused students than among nonabused students in each sexual orientation group. Age/abuse-adjusted models better explained the variance in risk scores (R²=0.10–0.31), but sexual orientation remained an independent predictor.

Conclusion. Sexual minority adolescents who attended school reported higher HIV risk behaviors, and higher prevalence of sexual victimization may partially explain these risks.

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