Concurrent Partnerships Among Adolescents in a Latino Community: The Mission District of San Francisco, California

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Abstract
Latino adolescents in the United States are disproportionately affected by sexually transmitted infections, yet knowledge of their sexual networks, particularly concurrent sex partners, is limited. The goal of this study was to describe the prevalence, patterns, and correlates of sexual concurrency among adolescents in an urban neighborhood. The authors conducted cross-sectional analyses of 368 sexually active youth recruited from public venues within a predominantly Latino neighborhood in San Francisco, California. During the prior 6 months, 20% of sexually experienced youth had concurrent partnerships, but this was more likely among males (27%) as females (12%) (odds ratio = 2.6; 95% confidence interval = 1.5-4.5). Sexually transmitted infection prevalence was too low to examine its association with concurrency. Factors that increased the likelihood of concurrency among males included: immigrant generation and being below grade level; and among females: older age and use of illegal substances. Ample opportunities to transmit sexually transmitted infections through concurrency were present, yet very few adolescents were infected, perhaps owing to adequate condom use within a neighborhood with low sexually transmitted infection prevalence.