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Age
An individual’s age can be a good indicator of their chances of engaging in risky sexual
behavior (Holtzman et al. 1998: 274). Age is related to risky sexual behavior and HIV in two
distinct ways; first, age can predict an individual’s likelihood of engaging in risky behaviors
(Harris, Duncan, and Boisjoly, 2002). Second, age can predict the likelihood that a person who
has engaged in sexual behavior will go for regular check-up’s and HIV testing (Holtzman et al.
1998). As Murphy, Rotherma-Borus, and Reid (1998) found, early in the emergence of HIV as
an epidemic, the adolescent age group was believed to be the least likely group to be at risk for
HIV. The primary thought behind excluding adolescents from being labeled as a high risk was
that they were only in their teens and would likely have little contact with older homosexual men
(who at that time were thought to be the only real carriers of the disease) (Murphy et al. 1998:
197).
Adolescents were not out of the reach of the HIV disease, as the CDC reported in 2002,
adolescents aged fifteen to twenty-four accounted for a cumulative total of over 40,000 HIV
diagnoses at the end of 2002 (p. 10). Murphy et al. (1998) had begun to look at why adolescents
(heterosexual and homosexual) were engaging in behaviors which put them at risk for HIV.
From their research it was first concluded that youth under the age of twenty-one had a
misconception about their potential risk of contracting HIV (p. 202). Of those youth who selfidentified as “sexually active” and engaged in at least one act of anal or vaginal intercourse, just
under one half believed that spermicidal gel and a diaphragm alone would prevent the spread of
HIV (p. 202). Similarly, 45% of the youth in the study felt that it was safe to use oil-based
lubrication (p. 202). Finally, they reported that 87% of their sexually active respondents felt that
they were at little or no risk for contracting HIV (p. 202).
Harris et al. (2002) found similar results when examining adolescent and attitudes on
risky sexual behavior (p. 1005). They found that regardless of biological sex or race,
adolescences who engage in risky behaviors typically do so because of a sense that there is
“nothing to loose” and that they are in some way invincible (p. 1029). Further they found that
even though youth engaged in risky behaviors such as unprotected sex, they often did so after
calculating the perceived risk. They found that youth actually calculated the potential perceived
gain (sexual pleasure) and compared it to the long term perceived health and life experience
costs. In many cases the youth failed to see the realities of potential health costs and therefore
saw unprotected sex as a risk they were willing to take (p. 1029).
Other researchers have further studied youth and changes which occur in their attitudes
towards risky sexual behavior in college. Parsons, Halkitis, Bimbi and Borkowski (2000) found
that adolescents in college had frequent perception that the benefits associated with sex without a
condom were greater than the potential drawbacks (p. 387). Measuring sexual risky behavior by
three variables; consistency of condom use in the last month, condom use during last act of
intercourse, and stage of change for condom use, they found that in all three measures, college
students were able to identify potential risks, but often reported the potential benefits exceeded
the risk (p. 387). They identified that level of temptation was also a highly significant factor in
understanding risky sexual behavior among college adolescents. They found that those students
who were not tempted to have unprotected sex under conditions such as intoxication, lack of
available (p. 387).
Finally, age was also found to be tied to the HIV disease with regard to initially getting
tested for HIV as well as access to overall health insurance. Holtzman et al. (1998) further
reported that only an estimated 43% of those aged eighteen to twenty-four had been tested for
HIV in the United States (p. 274). They also examined correlations between health insurance
coverage and obtaining HIV testing access. While they did not find that those who had health
insurance had a significantly different rate of being tested, they did find that those with health
insurance had better significantly better overall health (p. 279). This became important because
those with higher overall health ratings did seek out testing more regularly for HIV in an effort to
stay healthy (p. 279).
The variable of age has a significant impact on an individual’s propensity to engage in
risky sexual behavior and the subsequent possibility of HIV infection (Holtzman et al. 1998:
279). Age was found to directly impact individuals decisions regarding risky sexual behavior in
three key ways; first and most importantly, adolescents were more likely to engage in risky
behaviors than older adults because they had a more “nothing to loose” approach and unrealistic
view of the potential risks of unprotected sex (Harris et al. 2002: 1029). Finally, age was found
to be directly linked to overall health and preventive medicine, because youth eighteen and older
who no longer were on their parents insurance were less likely to get routine health check-ups
(Holtzman et al. 1998). Age is only one variable which was found to be related to engaging in
risky sexual behavior, current HIV status was also found to have significant impacts on the
incidents of risky sexual behavior (Osmond et al. 1994).