Schenita Randolph, associate professor, and Ragan Johnson, assistant professor, contribute to "The Need for Parent-Adolescent Conversations About Racial Discrimination in HIV Prevention Interventions" in the "Journal of Adolescent Health." Naomi Duke, of School of Medicine, and Davon Washington, of Clinical and Translational Science Institute, contributed. This article will be open access before Aug. 8.

Excerpt

Black male adolescents and young adults (AYA) have eight times the rate of HIV compared to white male AYA. To address this significant disparity, interventions that consider the social contexts and lived experiences of black males are critical, including racial discrimination and the role of parents in racial socialization and identity development. Black males experience racial discrimination as early as preschool. For example, black students are more likely than white students to be disciplined, expelled, and to be placed in juvenile detention facilities, especially black male students. Studies have shown that adolescent males who experience racial discrimination at ages 10 and 11 have risky sexual behaviors by ages 18 and 19. For black males, media portrayals as a predator and low expectations in formative environments (e.g., school, health) may become internalized as personal narrative. As such, experiences of discrimination and marginalization become normalized and manifest as risky behaviors, including high-risk sexual activity.

Citation

Schenita D. Randolph, Naomi N. Duke, Ragan Johnson, Davon Washington, The Need for Parent-Adolescent Conversations About Racial Discrimination in HIV Prevention Interventions, Journal of Adolescent Health, 2021, ISSN 1054-139X, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jadohealth.2021.05.007.