CDC: some sexual minorities have higher sexual risk behaviors

(HealthDay)—Bisexual females and "not sure" male students report higher prevalences for many sexual risk behaviors than heterosexual students, according to research published in the Sept. 14 issue of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report.

Catherine N. Rasberry, Ph.D., from the CDC in Atlanta, and colleagues used nationally representative Youth Risk Behavior Survey (YRBS) data to examine subgroup differences among sexual minority youths. Pooled data from the 2015 and 2017 cycles of the national YRBS were analyzed to assess health behaviors among U.S. students in grades nine to 12. The differences in eight sexual risk behaviors were examined among sexual minority youths and nonsexual minority youths and within sexual minority youths.

The researchers found that, compared with heterosexual students, bisexual females and "not sure" males reported higher prevalences of many behaviors. The largest differences for behavior-based subgroups were seen between students who had sexual contact with both sexes versus those with only opposite-sex sexual contact.

"Findings highlight subgroup differences within sexual minority youths that could inform interventions to promote healthy behavior," the authors write.