Marijuana use and HIV risk among adolescent offenders: The moderating effect of age

Purpose: This study examined gender and age as potential moderators of the association between marijuana use and human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) risk among 272 adolescent offenders. Methods Analyses were based on biological and self-report measures of both marijuana use and HIV risk. Results: Results revealed that the association between marijuana use and HIV risk was moderated by age but not gender across both biological and self-report measures. Specifically, marijuana use was associated with a higher occurrence of HIV risk among younger but not older adolescent offenders. Implications: These findings provide meaningful information that can be used to guide future research as well as interventions with adolescent offenders.