The Contribution of Neighborhood Social Disorganization to Sexually Transmitted Infection Biomarkers

Jodi Ford, Ohio State University
Christopher Browning, Ohio State University

This study examined the contribution of neighborhood social disorganization to sexually transmitted infection (STI) among young adults in the U.S. using Wave III of the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health. The dependent variable, STI, was a urine biomarker measure of chlamydia, gonorrhea and trichomoniasis. Neighborhood social disorganization was measured via three indicators: concentrated poverty, residential instability and ethnic heterogeneity. Hierarchical generalized linear modeling was employed to adjust for the nesting of individuals within neighborhoods. Findings indicated that 6.9% of the young adults had a positive STI urine screen. Preliminary analyses found that neighorhood concentrated poverty was significantly associated with having an STI, after adjusting for individual and neighborhood controls. Additional analyses will examine cross-level interactions to determine the extent to which associations between neighborhood social disorganization and STI vary by individual sociodemographic factors.

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Presented in Poster Session 7