Abstract: Associations between Anabolic-Androgenic Steroid Use and Sexual Health Behaviors Among Adolescent Boys: Results from the 2019 Youth Risk Behavior Survey (Society for Social Work and Research 27th Annual Conference - Social Work Science and Complex Problems: Battling Inequities + Building Solutions)
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117P Associations between Anabolic-Androgenic Steroid Use and Sexual Health Behaviors Among Adolescent Boys: Results from the 2019 Youth Risk Behavior Survey

Schedule:
Friday, January 13, 2023
Phoenix C, 3rd Level (Sheraton Phoenix Downtown)
* noted as presenting author
Kyle Ganson, PhD, Assistant Professor, University of Toronto, ON, Canada
Dylan Jackson, PhD, Assistant Professor, The Johns Hopkins University
Alexander Testa, PhD, Assistant Professor, University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston
Pamela Murnane, PhD, Assistant Professor, University of California, San Francisco
Jason Nagata, MD, Assistant Professor, University of California, San Francisco, CA
Background and Purpose: Anabolic-androgenic steroid use (AAS) has risen in prevalence in recent years, particularly among adolescent boys. While prior research has described associations between AAS use and a wide array of problematic social behaviors among adults, including sexual health behaviors, less is known about the correlates of AAS use among boys. Therefore, the aim of this study was to determine the association between lifetime AAS use and seven indicators of sexual health behaviors among a nationally representative sample of adolescent boys in the United States.

Methods: Data were from 2,095 sexually active adolescent boys from the 2019 National Youth Risk Behavior Survey. Unadjusted (adjusted F) and adjusted (modified Poisson regressions) analyses were conducted to determine the associations between any lifetime AAS use and seven indicators of sexual health behaviors among the sample.

Results: In adjusted analyses, sexually active boys who reported lifetime AAS use were at greater risk of having sexual intercourse before the age of 13 years (adjusted risk ratio [aRR] 2.73, 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.44-5.17), reporting ≥ 4 sexual partners in their lifetime (aRR 1.96, 95% CI 1.34-2.89) and in the past three months (aRR 6.77, 95% CI 3.19-14.37), having been tested for HIV in their lifetime (aRR 2.49, 95% CI 1.13-4.73), and having been tested for any STI in the past 12 months (aRR 3.14, 95% CI 1.63-6.03), while adjusting for key demographic and confounding variables. While not significant in regression analyses, in unadjusted analyses, boys who reported lifetime AAS use more likely to report alcohol or drug use before their last sexual intercourse encounter and engage in condomless sex before their last sexual intercourse encounter.

Conclusions and Implications: These findings align with prior research among adult men and have implications for social work professionals, including the need for efforts to reduce the use of AAS, as well as improved education to support the engagement in safe sexual health behaviors among adolescent boys.

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