Would you encourage your teen to get a job? Probably especially in the current economic conditions, but according to a study undertaken by researchers at the University of Michigan letting teens work too much may be bad for their sexual health.

Jose Bauermeister and his team found that teens who were working for too many hours in an adult environment were more likely to engage in sexual activity with older partners, which they concluded may lead to a higher risk of sexual diseases, including HIV, and riskier sexual behavior in general.

The research team followed a group of youngsters in the Flint, Michigan area as they moved through their young adult years, from the ages of 14-25. The purpose of the study was to see what factors predicted a difference in the age of sex partners.

Their study found many factors were involved, not just whether teens worked in an adult environment of not. Alcohol use and self esteem also played a very big role.

Bauermeister is quick to point out that his study is not advising that teen s should not join the workforce. Indeed, he points out, teenagers who do hold paid employment score in almost every other area over their unemployed counterparts, it is simply that in an inadequately supervised environment they are more likely to be drawn to sexual activity with older partners, especially in the case of young girls.

It’s still a good idea for kids to work he says. But advises that “Parents must ask the right questions and make sure it’s a safe place for their children.”

The study also found that it is girls who tend to date older, beginning at the age of 14, as do those who teens of both sexes who drop out of high school or use alcohol on a regular basis. Boys they found generally dated within their own age group between the ages of 14 and 18, and beyond that age they actually tended to date younger rather than older

High self esteem and a low use of alcohol, the study found, can offset the negative effects of working too many hours. In fact an avoidance of alcohol and a higher sense of worth protect teens from engaging in risky sexual practices overall, whether they work or not.

The study that was entitled what predicts sex partners’ age differences among African American youth? A longitudinal study from adolescence to young adulthood,” was published online recently.