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The current study evaluates two predictors of adolescent sexual risk‐taking, specifically whether impulse control or future expectations predict condom use and casual sex. We examine whether risky sex occurs among youth who tend to act without thinking about the future, or instead, youth who report low future expectations. We consider these relations longitudinally among a sample of sexually active justice‐involved adolescent males (N = 752, M age = 15.58) a group at heightened risk for sexual risk‐taking. We found that optimistic expectations for the future predict a higher likelihood of engaging in consistent condom use, whereas high impulse control is related to a lower likelihood of casual sex. Implications for intervention and research on positive sexual health are discussed.

Neighborhood disorder has been linked to perceptions of shorter life expectancies, and shorter life expectancies have been associated with greater risk‐taking. Yet, no studies have combined these two pathways. Using data from the longitudinal Crossroads study, the present study assessed whether life expectancy mediates the association between neighborhood disorder and risk‐taking—substance use, crime, and risky sex—among 1,093 justice‐involved adolescents. Results indicate that neighborhood disorder was linked to lower estimated life expectancy which in turn related to higher rates of cigarette use, binge drinking, illicit drug use, offending, and casual sex. However, life expectancy did not explain the association between neighborhood disorder and marijuana use or inconsistent condom use.

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