Social support quality and availability affects risk behaviors in offenders
| Autor: | Scott T. Walters, Sumihiro Suzuki, Faye S. Taxman, Brittany Marshall, Stephanie A. Spohr |
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| Jazyk: | angličtina |
| Rok vydání: | 2016 |
| Předmět: |
Substance abuse
Population Poison control Suicide prevention Structural equation modeling Social support 03 medical and health sciences 0302 clinical medicine Environmental health medicine 030212 general & internal medicine education Social policy education.field_of_study 030505 public health Social network STD/HIV business.industry Public Health Environmental and Occupational Health 16. Peace & justice medicine.disease Criminal justice 0305 other medical science Psychology business Law Clinical psychology Research Article |
| Zdroj: | Health & Justice |
| ISSN: | 2194-7899 |
| Popis: | Background People involved in the justice system are at 2.5 times the risk of HIV infection compared to the general population, which is further complicated by substance abuse. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the role of social network quality and quantity on unprotected sex, criminal risk, and substance use. Methods We used data from 330 drug-involved offenders. Structural equation modeling (SEM) was used to model and test path directionality and magnitude between the latent constructs of social support quality and quantity on risky behaviors. Results The SEM indicated the latent construct of social support quality was significantly associated with reduced sexual risk behavior (β = −0.27), criminal risk (β = −0.26), and reduced substance use (β = −0.33). Additionally, the proposed model found that social support quantity was significantly positively associated with increased sexual risk behavior (β = 0.40) and substance use (β = 0.20). Conclusions Social support quality is an important predictor of risky behaviors; as the quality of an offender’s social support increases, engagement in risky behaviors decreases. Probationers who had broader social support availability also had increased substance use and unprotected sex. Probation systems may be able to reduce substance use and STD/HIV infection risk in offenders by strengthening the quality of social support networks. |
| Databáze: | OpenAIRE |
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