Social Support Associated with Exchanging Sex for Drugs or Money Among Adolescents in the U.S

Background/Purpose: Commercial sexual exploitation is a widespread problem that has received increased global attention over the years. The Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2000 defines commercial sexual exploitation as the act of exchanging sex for drugs, money, food, or shelter by a minor (under 18 years old). This is also known as “sex exchange.” Research shows there are approximately 10% to 50% of youth who engage in sex exchange in the United States. Past research examined risk factors such as: economic status, history of running away, childhood abuse, and mental health condition of adolescents who participate in sex exchange. However, there is a dearth of literature that has examined different types of social support as a protective mechanism against youth engaging in sex for drugs or money. This study explores which social support factors are associated with the likelihood of exchanging sex for drugs or money among adolescents in the United States.

Methods: This study used wave 1 of the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent to Adult Health (Add Health), in home survey, a nationally representative sample of youth, to examine the different types of social supports for adolescents (N= 18,736). The average age of youth between 11 to 17 is 15 years, SE = 0.11. Fifty-one percent of the sample self-identified as female. The independent variables were: adolescents’ perception on adults caring for them, teachers caring for them, parents caring for them, and friends caring for them; covariates included: gender, and age; and the dependent variable: exchanging sex for drugs or money. Logistic regression analysis was used to examine the different types of support to predict exchanging sex for drugs or money among youth.

Results: The overall model was statistically significant F (6, 123) = 13.63, p < .001. Results from the overall reveal that youth who reported a decrease in parents caring about them, were more like to exchange sex for drugs or money (OR .955; CI .950-.959). Similarly, a decrease in adults caring about you (OR .878; CI .875-.882), teachers (OR .737; CI .734-.738), and friends (OR .811; CI .808-.814) were associated with the increase likelihood in youth exchanging sex for money or drugs. Older youth were more likely to exchange sex for money or drugs age (OR 1.036; CI 1.033-1.038) and males were more likely to engage in exchanging sex for money or drugs (OR .328;95% CI .325-.331).

Conclusions/Implications: This study revealed that social support has an influence on an adolescent’s choice to exchange sex for drugs or money. It is important to consider utilizing social support as a preventative approach to decrease sex exchange behaviors among adolescents in the United States. This model showed that higher social support decreased the risk for exchanging sex for money; however, this model only explained about 7.4% of the variance. Other factors should be explored.