This study investigated the relationships between sexual and intravenous drug risk-taking activities, perceptions of vulnerability to HIV infection, attitudes to HIV/AIDS precautions and knowledge of risk among a sample of 80 homeless youth aged between 15 and 20 years. There was evidence of high levels of risky sexual behaviour, with over 80 percent of the sample never or only sometimes using condoms during vaginal intercourse, and around one-quarter reporting irregular or no condom use during anal intercourse. Intravenous drug-use activity rates were also high, with nearly half the sample having experimented with IV drugs and about one-quarter still using them. The use of precautionary measures was inconsistent, and, with respect to drug-use, often incorrect. Homeless youth perceived their risks of becoming infected with HIV as very low, despite their behaviours. Using multiple regression, perceived vulnerability to HIV infection was significantly predicted by drug use behaviour (($) under bar F=1.93, ($) under bar p=0.04), but not by risky sexual behaviour, indicating that these young people do not regard their sexual activities as dangerous. Sexual risk with a regular partner was significantly predicted by negative attitudes toward sexual precautions (such as condoms), age and sex, with older homeless youth and females being more at risk (($) under bar F=3.76; ($) under bar p<0.001). Sexual risk with casual partners and drug-risk behaviour were not predicted by attitudes to precautions or knowledge of them, indicating that we need to go beyond these variables and look more intensively at contextual factors inherent in the life-styles of this population.
