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. 2021 Jun 1;33(3):371-384.
doi: 10.1080/19317611.2021.1919950. eCollection 2021.

Psychological Distress as a Primer for Sexual Risk Taking Among Emerging Adults

Delishia M Pittman  1 , Cassandra Riedy Rush  1 , Sarah Litt  1 , Melanie L Minges  1 , Alicia A Quayson  1
Affiliations

Psychological Distress as a Primer for Sexual Risk Taking Among Emerging Adults

Delishia M Pittman et al. Int J Sex Health. .

Abstract

Emerging adults experience increased morbidity as a result of psychological distress and risky sexual behavior. This study examines how sexual behaviors (e.g., condom use inconsistency and past year STI history) differ among emerging adults with low, moderate, and high psychological distress. Participants are 251,254 emerging adults attending colleges and universities in the United States who participated in the National College Health Assessment (NCHA). Findings suggest a dose-response relationship between psychological distress, condom use inconsistency, and past STI history, such that an association between greater psychological distress and condom use inconsistency and/or past year history of sexually transmitted infections (STIs).

Keywords: Psychological distress; college students; condom use; emerging adults; sexual health.

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Conflict of interest statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Figures

Figure 1.
Figure 1.
Final cluster distributions for low, moderate, and high levels of psychological distress.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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