Associations between HIV/STI testing, sexual violence, and methamphetamine use among adolescents in the United States: a cross-sectional examination of the Youth Risk and Behavior Surveillance System

Background: Methamphetamine use can alter judgment and decision-making processes leading to sexual-risk behaviors, including sexual violence and unprotected sex, that may lead to sexually transmitted infections (STIs) including HIV. Thus, the objective of this study is to identify associations among HIV/STI testing and sexual violence among adolescents in the U.S. with and without a history of methamphetamine use.

Methods: We performed a cross-sectional analysis of HIV/STI testing and sexual violence among U.S. adolescents reporting having used methamphetamine and those who haven’t using data extracted from the 2019 Youth Risk Behavior Survey National, State, and District Combined Datasets from 2015 to 2019.

Results: Adolescents with methamphetamine use were more likely to complete HIV/STI testing and were more likely to have used alcohol or drug use before sexual intercourse as compared to those who didn’t. Further, the odds were that males were 10 times and females were 6 times more likely to experience sexual violence given methamphetamine use as compared to their counterparts with no history of methamphetamine use. Our study also found that the prevalence of methamphetamine use was higher among all groups of adolescents of Native American ancestry.

Conclusion: HIV/STI testing was significantly higher in adolescents who used methamphetamine than those who didn’t use it and were more likely to experience sexual violence; however, further research is needed to investigate potential interventions to reduce methamphetamine usage in U.S. high school students.