Body image and risky Sexual behaviors in high school students

Abstract

The present study aimed to analyze the relationship between body image and risky sexual behaviors in students at the secondary level of an educational institution, had a non-experimental design, of correlational cross-sectional cut. The sample consisted of 403 participants (51.6% female and 48.4% male) aged between 12 and 17 who completed the Body Shape Questionnaire (BSQ) online surveys and the Risk Sexual Behaviors Scale. The results revealed that 72.7% of adolescents showed a moderate level of concern about body image and 47.1% presented a low level of risky sexual behaviors, it was also evidenced that factors such as grade, sex and age are not related to body image, but to those with risky sexual behaviors; finally, it was concluded that body image is related to risk sexual behaviors (rho =.715; p =.000) accepting the study hypothesis.