Dangerous pleasures: Sexual risk-taking in late adolescence

The paper examines the extent and structural characteristics of sexual risk -taking (SRT) in student population, The introductory section offers a defi nition of SRT, the age specific contributing factors, and a brief overview of related biheviroal research - including all the studies carried out in C roatia (1973-1998). Four hypotheses regarding SRT in late adolescence are t ested in the empirical part of the paper, which is based on data collected in the 1998 survey on sexual knowledge, attitudes and behavior carried out on 1355 freshmen at the University of Zagreb. The results confirm the first three hypotheses (regarding the normalcy or omnipresence of SRT, gender sp ecific and sequentially organized structure of SRT), but offer only partial support for the contextual rationality thesis, suggesting instead a comple x interplay of rational and irrational (habitual) elements as the psycholog ical background of SRT. The concluding section discusses also more pragmati c, i. e. the applied aspects of the research on SRT, calling for SRT preven tion in Croatia through comprehensive school-based sexual education.