The SERZAM2020 Research Study: Dynamics of Reproductive and Sexual Health in Emerging Croatian Adults, 2005-2020

This multidisciplinary bio-behavioral research study builds upon two national probability-based surveys of reproductive and sexual health in emerging adults (18-25) carried out in 2005 and 2010. The project has two aims: (1) to describe and analyze the current prevalence of risky sexual behaviors, as well as its change in the 2005-2020 period using repeated cross-sectional data; and (2) to provide a systematic assessment of the role of personal faith and religiosity in emerging adults’ sexual and reproductive health. The second aim is related to growing levels of religiosity among young people and the absence of comprehensive school-based sexuality education in Croatia.

The project will provide detailed and systematic insight into the dynamics of reproductive and sexual health in emerging adults for evidence-based policy planning and specific public health interventions. In addition, our testing of four specific conceptual mechanisms hypothesized to underlie the association between religiosity and sexual risk taking is an original contribution to the literature currently characterized by ambivalent findings.

Open Science Framework homepage: https://osf.io/rz37p/

THE SERZAM2020 STUDY IS FUNDED BY THE CROATIAN SCIENCE FOUNDATION (GRANT NO. 3609)