Developmental Cognitive Neuroscience of Adolescent Sexual Risk and Alcohol Use

• Published in: AIDS and behavior Vol. 20; no. Suppl 1; pp. 97 - 108
• Main Authors: Feldstein Ewing, Sarah W., Ryman, Sephira G., Gillman, Arielle S., Weiland, Barbara J., Thayer, Rachel E., Bryan, Angela D.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: New York Springer US 01-01-2016; Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: Acquired immune deficiency syndrome; Adolescent; Adolescents; AIDS; Alcohol abuse; Alcohol Drinking - adverse effects; Alcohol Drinking - psychology; Alcohols; Cognition; Cognition & reasoning; Cognitive ability; Cognitive development; Cognitive Neuroscience; Decision Making; Female; Health; Health behavior; Health Psychology; HIV; HIV Infections - prevention & control; Human behavior; Human immunodeficiency virus; Humans; Infectious Diseases; Intervention; Male; Medicine; Medicine & Public Health; Nervous system; Neurosciences; Original Paper; Prevention; Public Health; Risk; Risk taking; Sex; Sexual Behavior; Sexually transmitted diseases; STD; Surveys and Questionnaires; Teenagers; Unsafe Sex; New Mexico; United States > US; Sexual risk; Brain; HIV; Adolescent; Alcohol use
• ISSN: 1090-7165; 1573-3254
• DOI: 10.1007/s10461-015-1155-2

Human adolescents engage in very high rates of unprotected sex. This behavior has a high potential for unintended, serious, and sustained health consequences including HIV/AIDS. Despite these serious health consequences, we know little about the neural and cognitive factors that influence adolescents’ decision-making around sex, and their potential overlap with behaviorally co-occurring risk behaviors, including alcohol use. Thus, in this review, we evaluate the developmental neuroscience of sexual risk and alcohol use for human adolescents with an eye to relevant prevention and intervention implications.