title: Homeless youths and HIV infection.
abstract: Risk of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection exacerbates the already difficult lives of 1.5 million homeless adolescents in the United States. Homeless youths engage in sexual and substance-abuse behaviors that place them at increased risk of contracting HIV, and they demonstrate other problem behaviors that reduce their coping responses. Model HIV prevention programs and interventions for HIV-positive youths, implemented for homeless adolescents, need to be disseminated on a national level. Social policies must recognize adolescents' rights to satisfaction of basic survival needs; comprehensively address the needs of dysfunctional, disenfranchised, and single-parent families; and provide continuity of care for adolescents to facilitate independent living. Special provisions must be made when designing programs for gay, sexually abused, and substance-abusing youths.
authors.affiliation: Division of Child Psychiatry, Columbia University, New York, NY 10032.
authors.forename: M J
authors.initials: MJ
authors.lastname: Rotheram-Borus
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Koopman
authors.forename: A A
authors.initials: AA
authors.lastname: Ehrhardt
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D003191:Comprehensive Health Care / Q000639:trends; D005260:Female; D006679:HIV Seropositivity / Q000523:psychology / Q000635:transmission*; D006301:Health Services Needs and Demand / Q000639:trends; D006703:Ill-Housed Persons / Q000523:psychology; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D012307:Risk Factors; D012931:Social Environment; D014481:United States