title: Perceived neighborhood partner availability, partner selection, and risk for sexually transmitted infections within a cohort of adolescent females.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  This research examined the association between a novel measure of perceived partner availability and discordance between ideal and actual partner characteristics as well as trajectories of ideal partner preferences and perceptions of partner availability over time.
  
  
  METHODS
  A clinic-recruited cohort of adolescent females (N = 92), aged 1619 years, were interviewed quarterly for 12 months using audio computer-assisted self-interview. Participants ranked the importance of characteristics for their ideal main sex partner and then reported on these characteristics for their current main partner. Participants reported on perceptions of availability of ideal sex partners in their neighborhood. Paired t-tests examined discordance between ideal and actual partner characteristics. Random-intercept regression models examined repeated measures.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Actual partner ratings were lower than ideal partner preferences for fidelity, equaled ideal preferences for emotional support and exceeded ideal preferences for social/economic status and physical attractiveness. Discordance on emotional support and social/economic status was associated with sex partner concurrency. Participants perceived low availability of ideal sex partners. Those who perceived more availability were less likely to be ideal/actual discordant on fidelity [OR = .88, 95% CI: .78, 1.0]. Neither ideal partner preferences nor perceptions of partner availability changed over 12 months.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Current main sex partners met or exceeded ideal partner preferences in all domains except fidelity. If emotional needs are met, adolescents may tolerate partner concurrency in areas of limited partner pools. Urban adolescent females who perceive low availability may be at increased risk for sexually transmitted infection (STI) because they may be more likely to have nonmonogamous partners.
authors.affiliation: Division of General Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine, Department of Pediatrics, Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, Baltimore, Maryland. Electronic address: pmatson@jhmi.edu.
authors.forename: Pamela A
authors.initials: PA
authors.lastname: Matson
authors.affiliation: Division of General Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine, Department of Pediatrics, Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, Baltimore, Maryland.
authors.forename: Shang-En
authors.initials: SE
authors.lastname: Chung
authors.affiliation: Division of General Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine, Department of Pediatrics, Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, Baltimore, Maryland; All Children's Hospital, Johns Hopkins Medicine, St. Petersburg, Florida.
authors.forename: Jonathan M
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Ellen
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D001741:Black or African American / Q000523:psychology / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D017677:Age Distribution; D015142:Baltimore / Q000453:epidemiology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007407:Interviews as Topic; D010465:Perception; D011446:Prospective Studies; D012111:Residence Characteristics / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D018570:Risk Assessment; D012725:Sexual Behavior / Q000523:psychology* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D012747:Sexual Partners / Q000523:psychology*; D012749:Sexually Transmitted Diseases / Q000208:ethnology* / Q000209:etiology / Q000523:psychology; D014504:Urban Health / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: Adolescents; Cohort studies; Female; Partner availability; Perceptions; STI risk; Sex partner selection