PURPOSE: We examined changes in racial/ethnic disparities in HIV diagnoses among adolescents and young adults aged 13-24years from 2015 through2019. METHODS: We used national surveillance data for 2015-2019 from AtlasPlus to calculate 12 absolute and relative disparity measures for 7 racial/ethnic groups to understand HIV diagnosis trends over time. We calculated four absolute measures (Black-to-White rate difference, Hispanic-to-White rate difference, Absolute Index of Disparity [ID], population-weighted Absolute ID) and eight relative measures (Black-to-White rate ratio, Hispanic-to-White rate ratio, ID, population-weighted ID, population attributable proportion, Gini coefficient, Theil index, and mean log deviation). RESULTS: HIV diagnosis rates decreased by 15.9% across all racial/ethnic groups combined. All the absolute disparity measures we examined indicated substantial reductions (13.5%-18.5%) in absolute disparities. Most of the relative disparity measures (eight of eight population-unadjusted measures and five of eight population-adjusted measures) declined as well, but the change was relatively modest and ranged from a 3.3% decrease to a 2.1% increase across the measures. DISCUSSION: Despite progress, racial/ethnic disparities in HIV diagnoses among adolescents and young adults remain. Programs and services that are culturally relevant and tailored for this population may assist with continued progress toward reducing racial/ethnic disparities.

While people across the globe adapt to the COVID-19 pandemic, young people have been the center of many news stories. Millions of young people are required to stay home due to school closures, and adults are forced to consider alternative structures to support youths’ needs. The COVID-19 pandemic has exposed multiple injustices and forms of oppression experienced by the most vulnerable in our country, which includes young people experiencing poverty, incarceration, foster care, homelessness, and those with marginalized identities. This article will discuss the role of power and social control in the lives of youth during the COVID-19 pandemic and present strategies leisure researchers and practitioners can adopt to overcome the loss of critical support structures and mitigate exponential effects of COVID-19 on our most vulnerable youth.