The characteristics and the mental functioning of adolescent prostitutes were examined in several studies. Literature associates externalizing problems (i.e. impulsivity) with high rates of sexual activity and high rates of prostitution (Donenberg et al., 2005). Research has identified a link between psychopathology and high rates of health-risking sexual behavior and conduct problems. Despite the identification of psychopathology as a risk factor for the development of health-risking sexual, its role in prostitution has not been well examined.

Although the association between psychopathological disease and engagement in health-risking sexual behavior is documented, the specific nature of the cause or mechanism for the link between psychopathological disease and the development of these behavior problems is not known.

An extensive literature search for relevant published and unpublished studies was conducted on Medline, CINAHL Plus with Full Text, Psycoinfo and PsycArticle from inception through September 21, 2015. Additionally, we performed a search in Google Scholar and manually searched by the reference lists of included articles. Comprehensive search strategies were developed using the controlled vocabularies of each database. We systematically searched for relevant studies using a combination of Medical Subject Headings (MeSH) terms and corresponding free-text terms. Search term and keywords were altered as per specification of individual database.

Adolescent prostitution is one of the major public health problems and psychopathology plays an important part in it. Adolescent prostitutes’ shown elevated level of psychopathological disease that may reflect the possibility that their psychological functioning leads them to this particular environment.

The authors have not supplied their declaration of competing interest.