Adolescents and young adults are at greater risk of contracting sexually transmitted infections (STIs) because they are more likely to have unprotected sex and to have multiple partners, as well as high-risk partners (Panchaud, Singh, Feivelson, & Darroch, 2000). A meta-analysis of 121 empirical studies concerning heterosexual condom use (Sheeran, Abraham, & Orbell, 1999) reported that, although condom use has increased since the early 1980s, the absolute levels of use remained low. Studies dealing with sexual risk-taking among adolescents and young adults in Croatia reported a similar trend: The level of condom use did rise in the last 15 years (Hirsl-Hecej & Stulhofer, 2001; Stulhofer, Ajdukovic, Bozicevic, & Kufrin, 2006), but a majority of young adults (80%) did not use condoms consistently. This trend is in part reflected in the fact that HIV and AIDS, the most severe of all STIs, remains overwhelmingly present among young people, with 45% of new HIV infections worldwide being diagnosed among persons aged 15 to 24 (Joint United Nations Program on HIV/AIDS, 2008). Religiosity is an important factor in assessing young people's vulnerability to HIV and other STIs. As eloquently stated in a recently published book on the subject, religion always makes a difference in the context of young people's sexuality (Regnerus, 2007). Its influence is also often gender-specific, with sexuality of young women being seemingly more susceptible to religious norms than that of their male counterparts
