UNEMPLOYMENT AND SEXUAL RISK-TAKING AMONG ADOLESCENTS

Sexual risk-taking can lead to serious consequences. This study addres sed the question of how sexual risk-taking was influenced by unemploym ent. A cohort of 1060 adolescents were followed from their last term i n compulsory school and five years ahead until the age of 21. Sexual r isk-taking, defined as unprotected intercourse without wishing to conc eive, was studied with the help of a questionnaire at the beginning an d at the end of the period. For men there was a positive correlation b etween the length of unemployment and increase in risk-laking during t he period. but for women there was a (statistically non-significant) n egative correlation. In a logistic regression analysis, having childre n also had a significant effect on increased risk-taking among men. Un employment thus implies increased sexual risk-taking among adolescent men.