Objectives: Sexual Strategies Theory suggests people fall on a continuum between having short-term mating orientation (STMO) and long-term mating orientation. One way STMO individuals signal mating goals is via risky drinking. The current study therefore aims to investigate drinks per week (DPW) as a mediator between STMO and risky sexual behavior…

Objective: In a random sample of undergraduate students, we aimed to: (1) establish the prevalence of choking and being choked; (2) examine demographic and situational predictors of being choked, and (3) examine demographic and situational predictors of choking someone. Participants: 4168 randomly sampled undergraduates at a large public U.S.…

Objective: To examine the impact of nonmedical use of prescription drugs (NMUPD) during sexual activity on the frequency of condom use among a sample of college students. Participants: Students attending a large Midwestern University (N = 4284) during April 2015. Methods: Retrospective cross-sectional analysis of survey data using logistic…

Hooking up is a popular trend on college campuses (Victor, 2012). Traditionally, hooking up has been viewed as a sexual risk behavior and research has focused on implications such as the spread of sexually transmitted infections (STI) or unintended pregnancy (Downing-Matibag & Geisinger, 2009). However, hookup behavior may also influence…

Objective: To examine the relationship between race, gender, and pre-hookup relationship intentions and college students' participation in condomless vaginal sex. Participants: 3,315 Black and White college students who participated in the Online College Social Life Survey (OCSLS). Methods: Secondary data analysis of the OCSLS using Chi-square and…

College students' predicted condom use has been shown to vary by partner social distance, with closer social distance related to less frequent condom use. Condom use has also been associated with condom availability (i.e., delay), with people less likely to use a condom as delay increases. How people value condoms and other commodities, such as…

Our study was guided by a developmental lens (emerging adulthood) and the theory of symbolic interaction as we attended to the meanings and definitions that contextualize expectations for engaging in hookups while attending college. Using a directed approach to qualitative content analysis, we examined first semester college men's and women's (N =…

This study examines the incidence and correlates of coercive sexting by dating partners among middle and high school students, including sex-based differences and associations with other forms of sexual coercion. Survey data from a study of protective factors for teen dating violence in middle and high school students were examined (N = 1,236). Of…

Public health data have shown higher rates of unplanned pregnancy and sexually transmitted infections for Hispanic individuals as compared with White individuals in the United States. This study compared sexual health behaviors and sexual outcomes between Hispanic and White college students (N = 1,008) at a Hispanic serving institution. Using…

Background: There is considerable literature on effective engagement strategies for recruiting adolescents individually for health research studies, but literature on recruiting adolescent couples is new an minimal. Purpose: This paper describes the recruitment strategies used for Teen Connections (TC), a longitudinal study that recruited 139…

The human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine provides physicians with an opportunity to have conversations with girls about sex and sex-related topics. Current research suggests that these conversations are not happening. This study was designed to assess whether physicians would use the HPV vaccination as an opening to communicate with nine-year-old to…

Context: Intimate partner violence (IPV) is a public health problem that affects people across the entire social spectrum. However, no previous population-based public health studies have examined the prevalence of IPV in rural areas of the United States. Research on IPV in rural areas is especially important given that there are relatively fewer…

A randomly selected cross-sectional survey was conducted with 880 youth (16 to 24 years) in Nha Trang City to assess relationships between alcohol consumption and sexual behaviors. A timeline followback method was employed. Chi-square, generalized logit modeling and logistic regression analyses were performed. Of the sample, 78.2% male and 56.1%…

Teens typically fail to use contraceptives consistently, which contributes to high rates of unintended pregnancy and sexually transmitted infections (STIs) among this age group. Existing research has focused primarily on how teens' own characteristics are related to contraceptive use, but has paid less attention to how the characteristics of…

This article examines the widespread resistance to condom use in sub-Saharan Africa by describing the major semiotic axes that organize how people talk about condoms and condom use. These axes include the "sweetness" of sex, trust and love between sexual partners, and assessments of risk and danger. Using data from rural Malawi, we show…