Alcohol Consumption and Risky Sexual Behavior amongst Adolescents and Young Adults

Seminar paper from the year 2018 in the subject Health - Public Health, grade: 1, Egerton University, language: English, abstract: In retrospect, substance use and sexual activity are quite common amongst adolescents and young adults. As such, it is emerging that sexual health amongst adolescents and young adults is seemingly becoming a significance public health challenge. Owing to the high rates of risky sexual behavior and alcohol use amongst adolescents and young adults, extensive scientific inquiry has focused on investigating the consequences of these issues. Of concern has been the correlation between the co-occurrence of alcohol use and risky sexual behavior with the transmission of sexually transmitted diseases including HIV/AIDS. It is also worth noting that alcohol use has a negative influence on protection against STDs because it impairs the use of protective barriers. Given that adolescents and young adults exhibit a high tendency of sexual risk taking, alcohol use exacerbates the issue of risky sexual behaviors in these groups. Morrison et al. claim that teenagers in the US "do not consistently protect themselves from sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) or unintended pregnancy". This explains the magnitude of the problem. Therefore, this paper provides a comprehensive critical analysis on the correlation between alcohol use and risky sexual behaviors amongst the young adults and adolescents. It will also discuss the consequences associated with alcohol use and risky sexual behavior amongst these groups.