During the 1990s, reported rates of infection among African American teens increased for some sexually related diseases (e.g., chlamydia) but decreased for others (e.g., gonorrhea and syphilis). However, all sexually related diseases—in particular, HIV infection and AIDS—are more prevalent among black adolescents than among all other teens.

Although African American adolescents remain more likely than their white or Latino counterparts to report engaging in sexual activity, the gaps among the groups in reported sexual experience have narrowed over the past 25 years. Factors found to lessen the greater likelihood of sexual intercourse among African American teens include family structure, educational attainment, socioeconomic status, and spiritual interconnectedness.

Over the past decade, despite a narrowing of the gaps between adolescents of different racial or ethnic groups in the frequency of various sexual behaviors and associated outcomes, African American adolescents remained more likely to contract sexually transmitted diseases (STDs).

Family characteristics and intra-familial relationships — for example, family structure, communication within families, and an adolescent’s perception of parental control — are foremost among the factors that influence an adolescent’s sexual behaviors. Some family characteristics influence African American teens differently from the way they do teens of other racial or ethnic groups. In addition, the effects of these characteristics often differ by gender within the African American teen population. Although many family characteristics and their influences cannot be altered, a clear understanding of these influences on adolescent sexual behaviors can inform interventions to meet the needs of African American teens. This issue brief uses findings from research literature published between the late 1970s and the early 21st century to examine the relationship between family influences and the sexual behavior of African American adolescents (Leigh and Andrews 2002).