scholarly journals “Who Are at Higher Sexual Risk?” Latent Class Analysis of Behavioral Intentions among Spanish Adolescents

Author(s):  
Alexandra Morales ◽  
Samuel Tomczyk ◽  
Mireia Orgilés ◽  
José Pedro Espada

Consistent condom use tends to be limited in youth, which makes this group especially vulnerable for sexually transmitted infections (STIs) and unplanned pregnancies. It is known that sexual risk may vary as a function of behavioral intentions (e.g., condom use intention or having sex under the influence of alcohol), but no studies have yet characterized the sexual risk profiles considering behavioral intentions. This study utilizes latent class analysis (LCA) to explore the subtyping of behavioral intentions related to sexual risk in a community-based sample of adolescents aged 14 to 16 years from Spain. Multinomial logistic regression was used to assess the association between class membership and participants’ sociodemographic variables (sex, age, educational level, socioeconomic status, and family situation), and behavioral variables (sexual experience and percentage of condom use). Among the 1557 participants, four latent classes of risk were identified: “Condom + drugs”, “abstinent”, “condom + no drugs”, and “no condom + drugs”. Differences in adolescents’ sex, age, educational level, sexual experience, and condom use across latent classes were found. Findings highlight opportunities for psychologists, educators, and health-care providers to promote condom use in adolescents with differing sexual risk profiles. Increased understanding of behavioral intentions among adolescents may help to reduce sexual risk behaviors in this group.

2021 ◽  
pp. 088626052199912
Author(s):  
Valdemir Ferreira-Junior ◽  
Juliana Y. Valente ◽  
Zila M. Sanchez

Although many studies addressed bullying occurrence and its associations, they often use individual variables constructed from few items that probably are inadequate to evaluate bullying severity and type. We aimed to identify involvement patterns in bullying victimization and perpetration, and its association with alcohol use, school performance, and sociodemographic variables. Baseline assessment of a randomized controlled trial were used and a latent class analysis was conducted to identify bullying patterns among 1,742 fifth-grade and 2,316 seventh-grade students from 30 public schools in São Paulo, Brazil. Data were collected using an anonymous self-reported, audio-guided questionnaire completed by the participants on smartphones. Multinomial logistic regressions were performed to verify how covariant variables affected bullying latent classes. Both grades presented the same four latent classes: low bullying, moderate bullying victimization, high bullying victimization, and high bullying victimization and perpetration. Alcohol use was associated with all bullying classes in both grades, with odds ratio up to 5.36 (95% CI 3.05; 10.38) among fifth graders from the high bullying victimization and perpetration class. Poor school performance was also strongly associated with this class (aOR = 10.12, 95%CI = 4.19; 24.41). Black/brown 5th graders were 3.35 times more likely to fit into the high bullying victimization class (95% CI 1.34; 8.37). Lack of evidence for association of sociodemographic variables and bullying latent class among seventh-grade students was found. Bullying and alcohol use are highly harmful behaviors that must be prevented. However, prevention programs should consider how racial and gender issues are influencing the way students experience violence.


2020 ◽  
Vol 14 (6) ◽  
pp. 155798832098428
Author(s):  
Francisco A. Montiel Ishino ◽  
Claire Rowan ◽  
Rina Das ◽  
Janani Thapa ◽  
Ewan Cobran ◽  
...  

Surgical prostate cancer (PCa) treatment delay (TD) may increase the likelihood of recurrence of disease, and influence quality of life as well as survival disparities between Black and White men. We used latent class analysis (LCA) to identify risk profiles in localized, malignant PCa surgical treatment delays while assessing co-occurring social determinants of health. Profiles were identified by age, marital status, race, county of residence (non-Appalachian or Appalachian), and health insurance type (none/self-pay, public, or private) reported in the Tennessee Department of Health cancer registry from 2005 to 2015 for adults ≥18 years ( N = 18,088). We identified three risk profiles. The highest surgical delay profile (11% of the sample) with a 30% likelihood of delaying surgery >90 days were young Black men, <55 years old, living in a non-Appalachian county, and single/never married, with a high probability of having private health insurance. The medium surgical delay profile (46% of the sample) with a 21% likelihood of delay were 55–69 years old, White, married, and having private health insurance. The lowest surgical delay profile (42% of the sample) with a 14% likelihood of delay were ≥70 years with public health insurance as well as had a high probability of being White and married. We identified that even with health insurance coverage, Blacks living in non-Appalachian counties had the highest surgical delay, which was almost double that of Whites in the lowest delay profile. These disparities in PCa surgical delay may explain differences in health outcomes in Blacks who are most at-risk.


2021 ◽  
pp. 0095327X2110469
Author(s):  
Scott D. Landes ◽  
Janet M. Wilmoth ◽  
Andrew S. London ◽  
Ann T. Landes

Military suicide prevention efforts would benefit from population-based research documenting patterns in risk factors among service members who die from suicide. We use latent class analysis to analyze patterns in identified risk factors among the population of 2660 active-duty military service members that the Department of Defense Suicide Event Report (DoDSER) system indicates died by suicide between 2008 and 2017. The largest of five empirically derived latent classes was primarily characterized by the dissolution of an intimate relationship in the past year. Relationship dissolution was common in the other four latent classes, but those classes were also characterized by job, administrative, or legal problems, or mental health factors. Distinct demographic and military-status differences were apparent across the latent classes. Results point to the need to increase awareness among mental health service providers and others that suicide among military service members often involves a constellation of potentially interrelated risk factors.


2019 ◽  
Vol 69 (2) ◽  
pp. 101-119 ◽  
Author(s):  
Seher Yalcin

This study aimed to determine individual- and country-level latent classes in literacy, numeracy and problem-solving competencies of individuals participating in the Programme for the International Assessment of Adult Competencies 2015. Specifically, it sought to distinguish these classes in relation to individuals’ sex and to identify the state of prediction of the determined latent classes by each person’s level of education. The study population consisted of 116,301 adults aged 16 to 65 years in 20 countries. Multilevel latent class analysis was conducted to consider the nested data structure and determine the number of latent classes. According to the results of the multilevel latent class analysis, Turkey and Chile were in the low achievement group in all skills, while Japan was in the most successful group. Moreover, the results revealed that sex and education level had a considerable influence on certain competence levels.


Author(s):  
Shikha Kukreti ◽  
Tsung Yu ◽  
Po Wei Chiu ◽  
Carol Strong

Abstract Background Modifiable risk behaviors, such as smoking, diet, alcohol consumption, physical activity, and sleep, are known to impact health. This study aims toward identifying latent classes of unhealthy lifestyle behavior, exploring the correlations between sociodemographic factors, identifying classes, and further assessing the associations between identified latent classes and all-cause mortality. Methods For this study, the data were obtained from a prospective cohort study in Taiwan. The participants’ self-reported demographic and behavioral characteristics (smoking, physical activity, alcohol consumption, fruit and vegetable intake, and sleep) were used. Latent class analysis was used to identify health-behavior patterns, and Cox proportional hazard regression analysis was used to find the association between the latent class of health-behavior and all-cause mortality. Results A complete dataset was obtained from 290,279 participants with a mean age of 40 (12.4). Seven latent classes were identified, characterized as having a 100% likelihood of at least one unhealthy behavior coupled with the probability of having the other four unhealthy risk behaviors. This study also shows that latent health-behavior classes are associated with mortality, suggesting that they are representative of a healthy lifestyle. Finally, it appeared that multiple risk behaviors were more prevalent in younger men and individuals with low socioeconomic status. Conclusions There was a clear clustering pattern of modifiable risk behaviors among the adults under consideration, where the risk of mortality increased with increases in unhealthy behavior. Our findings can be used to design customized disease prevention programs targeting specific populations and corresponding profiles identified in the latent class analysis.


2020 ◽  
Vol 80 ◽  
pp. 101792
Author(s):  
Hyunil Kim ◽  
Melissa Jonson-Reid ◽  
Patricia Kohl ◽  
Chien-jen Chiang ◽  
Brett Drake ◽  
...  

Author(s):  
Aziza Merzouki ◽  
Amanda Styles ◽  
Janne Estill ◽  
Zofia Baranczuk ◽  
Karen Petrie ◽  
...  

AbstractBackgroundWithin many sub-Saharan African countries including Malawi, HIV prevalence varies widely between regions. This variability may be related to the distribution of population groups with specific sociobehavioural characteristics that influence the transmission of HIV and the uptake of prevention. In this study, we intended to identify groups of people in Malawi with similar risk profiles.MethodsWe used data from the Demographic and Health Survey in Malawi from 2016, and stratified the analysis by sex. We considered demographic, socio-behavioural and HIV-related variables. Using Latent Class Analysis (LCA), we identified clusters of people sharing common sociobehavioural characteristics. The optimal number of clusters was selected based on the Bayesian information criterion. We compared the proportions of individuals belonging to the different clusters across the three regions and 28 districts of Malawi.ResultsWe found nine clusters of women and six clusters of men. Most women in the clusters with highest risk of being HIV infected were living in female-headed households and were formerly married or in a union. Among men, older men had the highest risk of being HIV infected, followed by young (20-25) single men. Generally, low HIV testing uptake correlated with lower risk of having HIV. However, rural adolescent girls had a low probability of being tested (48.7%) despite a relatively high HIV prevalence. Urban districts and Southern region had a higher percentage of high-prevalence and less tested clusters of individuals than other areas.ConclusionsLCA is an efficient method to find clusters of people sharing common HIV risk profiles, identify particularly vulnerable population groups, and plan targeted interventions focusing on these groups. Tailored support, prevention and HIV testing programmes should focus particularly on female household heads, adolescent girls living in rural areas, older married men, and young men who have never been married.FundingThe project was funded by the Swiss National Science Foundation (grant no 163878).


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