Description/Overview: This symposium will highlight cutting edge research with adolescents and young adults and their vulnerabilities pertaining to sickle cell disease (SCD), pain management, sexual risk behavior and sexual decision making. All papers share a focus on vulnerable young adult populations. Two papers share a focus on populations with SCD, two different papers share a neurobiological focus and two other papers share a spirituality and health focus. One paper highlights compelling results of a guided imagery intervention for young adults with SCD guided within the hypothalamic pituitary axis (HPA) framework. A second paper summarizes findings from a qualitative study of the role of spirituality in health and coping among adolescents with SCD within a Spiritual Development Framework. The third paper discusses the role of cognitive function, disinhibition and religiosity in sexual decision making and sexual risk behavior among adolescent females. All of these papers/presentations together in this session will provide the audience with multiple perspectives of the various vulnerabilities faced by young adults, as well as, recommendations to help nurses address them.