Objective

To compare the sexual risk behavior in high school students and differentiate by age, gender and level of sexual resilience.

Methods

Descriptive, transversal and explanatory study. The target population consisted of 182 adolescents aged 15 to 16 years of two educational institutions. The selection of the sample was using a stratified random sampling.

Results

Measuring instruments showed acceptable reliability measures. 69% of adolescents reported having 16 years of age, while 64% were female. Teenagers of 16 years had higher averages in sexual risk behaviors (M = 12.1, SD = 23.3) than adolescents of 15 years (M = 4.76, SD = 14.6, U = 2984.0, p = .038). Regarding gender, significant differences were found, women had (M = 7.45, SD = 2.77) for men (M = 8.01, SD = 2.03, U = 3714.0, p = .017). While the level of sexual resilience was also different, teens 15 years showed lower levels of resilience (M = 60.5, SD = 13.6) than adolescents of 16 years (M = 65.0, SD = 17.3; U = 2809.0, p = .034). The Linear Regression Model identified that the greatest contribution were variables were age, gender and marital status to sexual risk behavior (F = 1.85, R2ajustada = .065, p = .052). In another model age, gender and marital status were significant for the development of resilience (F = 5.4, R2ajustada = .07, p = .001). Research on adolescent sexual behavior and the factors that influence behavior, it is useful to understand what motivates adolescents to participate or avoid sexual risk behaviors.

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