The Male Sexual Partners of Adult Versus Teen Women With Sexually Transmitted Infections

The authors compared the male sexual partners of teen and adult women with STDs to determine the STD risks associated with the women's partners.

The women were enrolled in Project Sexual Awareness for Everyone, a randomized controlled behavioral intervention to prevent recurring STDs. The current study involved interviews with 514 male partners of the project's female participants. Among the women, 152 were ages 15-19 and 362 ages 20-41.

Compared with the partners of women ages 20-41, the male partners of teens were significantly more likely to be infected with any STD at intake (P<0.05). Young age independently predicted STD infection among men. The partners of teen girls were younger, more likely to use illegal drugs and to have had more sexual partners per year since sexual debut than the partners of women ages 20-41. The teens' partners were more likely to report it was "really important" for the teen to have their baby (P=0.04) and were slightly more likely to be the father of her children (P=0.17). The partners of females 15-19 had significantly shorter relationship length and shorter length of monogamy with the index teen.

"Although all women had an STI [sexually transmitted infection] at intake, important differences were noted among the male partners of teens versus adults," the authors concluded. "Clinicians with similar populations may use this data to understand the characteristics of male partners of teens with STIs, in order to more effectively counsel adult and teen women on partner notification, treatment, and STI prevention."

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