Outcomes of a brief sexual health intervention for homeless youth.

Homeless youth face various health challenges. The effectiveness of a short intervention to promote sexual health in 572 homeless 16-23-year-olds (M = 19.467+1.89) was conducted using a quasi-experimental repeated measures design. Data collected at three time points (pre-intervention, immediately post-intervention and follow-up) via laptop computers were analyzed using multivariate general linear mixed models. A significant condition by time interaction was found for self-reported AIDS/STD knowledge; intervention participants had higher scores at first post-test. Females scored significantly higher on cognitive and behavioral outcomes while males reported significantly more sexual risk-taking behaviors. Findings support gender-specific interventions.