Life styles in adolescence: sexual behavior of Portuguese adolescents

Abstract

Recent studies have shown that adolescents have initiated their sex lives earlier and earlier, without, however, receiving consistent sex education. The objectives of this study were to analyze the sexual behavior of adolescent high school students and identify the habits of sexual health in sexually active adolescent high school students. An exploratory study was conducted with 680 adolescents, whose age ranged between 15 and 19 years. Results showed that most participants had not initiated their sex life; boys are those who most report having had sexual relations; not all the interviewed adolescents used condoms during sex; most adolescents do not practice sexual health surveillance. It is important for sexually active adolescents to receive health care and counseling. Health institutions and their workers must be proactive in trying to approach adolescents.