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Adolescents And Hiv In Developing Countries: New Research Directions, Catherine L. Mac Phail

Faculty of Social Sciences - Papers (Archive)

Adolescents are of interest in HIV/STD studies as they are a group whose behaviour places them at increased risk of HIV infection (Hein, 1992). Adolescence is a period characterised by the development and formation of sexuality, a process which frequently involves a high turn-over of sexual partners (Krahe and Reiss, 1995; Lear, 1995). Teenage experimentation with drugs and alcohol frequently leads to the adoption of high risk behaviours or engagement in unplanned episodes of casual sex (Weatherburn and Project SIGMA, 1992). In addition, adolescents are particularly vulnerable to the normative social influences of their peers (DiClemente, 1990). These influences among …