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Adolescence as posited by the World Health Organization (2012) is an evolutionary time in which young people are forced to confront choices with major implications for their status in late life. In line with this, Hyde & Delamater (2010) suggest that the period of adolescence is considered to be a time they find, explore, and experiment with many sexual issues. In this regard, they wonder whether they are sexually attractive, they think about and question how they should behave sexually, and even they contemplate what the future holds for their sexuality (Santrock, 2008). Besides, adolescents are concerned about how they introduce themselves to others and how others view them sexually (Santrock, 2008). Adolescence is a period of intensified participation in larger social contexts outside the home, such as neighborhoods and peer groups, and these contexts are thought to exert powerful influences upon adolescent development, including sexuality (Browning, Leventhal, & Brooks-Gunn, 2009).
Sexual behaviors of adolescents are worldwide issues. For instance, studies in the United States according to Center for Disease Control (2008) report, the trends in adolescents’ sexual behaviors from 1991-2005 show that nearly 48% of high school students nationwide had ever had sex in their life time. Of those who had engaged in sex, 15% had had four or more partners since they had become sexually active. Besides, about one-third of all girls in the United States get pregnant before age 20, giving birth to 435,427 infants in 2006. Eighty percent of those births were unintended. And 26 percent of American girls, ages 14–19, have at least one sexually transmitted infection, according to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC, 2008) study. Similarly, in Canada, among all sexually active persons, adolescents have highest incidence of STIs (McKay, 2004). This situation is also evident in European countries such as England and Wales (Panchaud, 2010).
Kalamus (2010) identified four key sets of factors that have been associated with risky sexual behaviors and pregnancy: race and ethnicity, socio economic status, social influence and attitudes towards contraception, condom use and pregnancy and safer sex behavioral skills. According to these authors, adolescents having parent with low educational attainment and living in single parent family are the socio economic indicators that significantly predict risky sexual behaviors and pregnancy. Yet, among peoples’ social influence clearly affect their likelihood of engaging in risky sexual behaviors, particularly early sexual debut and non-use of condom. For example, having friends who are sexually active or who do not use condom enhances one’s own risk of these behaviors.