Cockeyed optimists.

Although their general profile suggested high risk, most teenagers interviewed at clinics in Connecticut in 1998-2000 did not consider themselves likely to acquire a sexually transmitted disease (STD) in the near future. (1) On average, the 209 pregnant, sexually active 14-19-year-olds had initiated sex before the age of 15; hall had had unprotected intercourse in the month before the interview. Three in 10 of the young women had had an STD, and four in 10 of these had had more than one. Nevertheless, when asked to rate their chance of acquiring an STD within a year, 89% of those interviewed put it at little or none--including at least 80% of those who had an STD history, those with current symptoms of infection, those reporting recent unprotected sex and those who had had four or more sexual partners. Overall, 21% tested positive for chlamydia or gonorrhea at the time of the interview or within the next 12 months; 81% of this group had considered themselves to have little or no risk of infection. Given the apparent "mismatch between evidence and perceptions of risk," the researchers stress that "more work is necessary to help young women to accurately assess their risk for infection."

(1.) Ethier KA et al., Adolescent women underestimate their susceptibility to sexually transmitted infections, Sexually Transmitted Infections, 2003, 79(5): 408-411.