Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2007 Dec;32(12):2940-52.
doi: 10.1016/j.addbeh.2007.06.011. Epub 2007 Jun 9.

Alcohol use, partner type, and risky sexual behavior among college students: Findings from an event-level study

Jennifer L Brown  1 , Peter A Vanable
Affiliations

Alcohol use, partner type, and risky sexual behavior among college students: Findings from an event-level study

Jennifer L Brown et al. Addict Behav. 2007 Dec.

Abstract

Alcohol use is prevalent among college students and may contribute to elevated rates of sexual risk taking. Using event-level data, the hypothesis that partner type would moderate the effect of alcohol consumption on condom use was tested. Sexually active college students (N=330; 67% female) reported on characteristics of their most recent sexual encounter, including partner type, alcohol use, and condom use, along with measures of sex-related alcohol expectancies, sensation seeking, and typical alcohol use. Unprotected vaginal sex (UVS) was reported by 39% of the sample and 32% reported alcohol use prior to sex. For the complete sample, UVS was just as likely for non-drinking events as for events involving alcohol use. However, for sexual encounters involving a non-steady partner, alcohol consumption was associated with an increase in UVS, whereas rates of UVS did not vary by drinking status for encounters involving a steady partner. These effects remained in analyses that controlled for sex-related alcohol expectancies, sensation seeking, and typical alcohol use. Findings confirm that the effects of alcohol vary according to the context in which it is used.

PubMed Disclaimer

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Percentage reporting unprotected vaginal sex (UVS) as a function of partner type and alcohol consumption.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Abbey A. Alcohol-related sexual assault: A common problem among college students. Journal of Studies on Alcohol. 2002;(Supplement 14):118–128. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Abbey A, Saenz C, Parkhill MR, Hayman LW. The effects of acute alcohol consumption, cognitive reserve, partner risk, and gender on sexual decision making. Journal of Studies on Alcohol. 2006;67:113–121. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Adams-Curtis LE, Forbes GB. College women's experiences of sexual coercion: A review of cultural, perpetrator, victim, and situational variables. Trauma Violence & Abuse. 2004;5:91–122. - PubMed
    1. Anderson PB, Mathieu D. Drinking and safer sex: Are college students at risk? Journal of Sex Education & Therapy. 1998;23:297–301.
    1. Birnbaum IM, Hartley JT, Johnson MK, Taylor TH. Alcohol and elaborative schemes for sentences. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Learning and Memory. 1980;6:293–300. - PubMed

Publication types