Sexual risk behavior: factors associated to the number of sexual partners and condom use in adolescents

The objective of this article is to evaluate the number of sexual partners in the last twelve months and the use of condom in the last three sexual relations of adolescents aged between 15 and 18 years old. It was a cross-sectional study with 960 adolescents. Two dichotomized variables were considered as risk sexual behaviors: two or more sexual partners in the last twelve months, and occasional use of condom in the last three sexual relations. We assessed whether these behaviors were associated with socioeconomic status, gender, adolescent and parental schooling, age, living with the parents, remunerated work, religiosity, drugs use, tobacco, alcohol consumption, alcoholic beverages consume before the last sexual relation. The Poisson regression was used for each outcome. The adolescent gender, schooling, the use of illicit drugs and tobacco in the last month as well as alcoholic beverages consume before the last sexual relation indicates greater risk of keeping sexual relations with two or more partners in the last 12 months. With regard to the occasional use of condom in the last three sexual relations, females and those whose mothers have low schooling presented increased risk. Our study suggests that there is a strong relation between risky behaviors.