ABSTRACT
Alcohol and marijuana use, early sexual initiation, having ever been pregnant, and age were negatively associated with regular condom use for young women. Even though much has been written about homeless and runaway adolescents’ sexuality in the popular media, survival sex is relatively uncommon. Instead, adolescents move from “relationship” to “relationship.” Runaway adolescents are sexually precocious, initiating coitus much younger than nonrunaways and hence are at risk for more of their adolescence. Among the predictors of condom use, HIV risk behaviors, and pregnancy, early initiation of coitus stood out as a consistent predictor of maladaptive sexual behaviors. The lifestyles and environments of runaway young people put them at particular risk for contracting sexually transmitted disease (STD). The young men who had ever been had a STD primarily reported pubic lice and gonorrhea. Because of their high-risk sexual behaviors, runaway adolescents also are especially susceptible to HIV infection.
