Reasons for having sex and sexual risk-taking: A study of heterosexual male STD clinic patients

Author(s): Bolton, R.

Journal/Book: AIDS Care. 1997; 9: PO Box 25, Abingdon, Oxfordshire, England OX14 3UE. Carfax Publ Co. 285-296.

Abstract: Individuals report a variety of reasons for having sex. Understanding these reasons can improve HIV and STD prevention efforts because they may constitute an important component in the aetiology of sexual risk-taking behaviours. Relationships between self-reported reasons for having sex and frequency of participation in sexual practices among 146 heterosexual men recruited from public STD clinics in Southern California were examined. Using a self-administered questionnaire, respondents reported how often they engaged in sex for each of 16 reasons and how frequently they participated in high, moderate, and low-risk sexual practices. A principal components analysis identified five factors used to construct scales: love; compliance; pleasure; altered states; and potency. Higher-risk sexual practices were positively associated with the pleasure and potency scales, whereas lower-risk practices were positively associated with the love scale. These findings suggest that some reasons men report for having sex may influence sexual risk-taking. Interventions to reduce unsafe sex should explicitly address how men can practise safer sex: and still experience pleasure and potency.

Note: Article VS-Card Hoffman V, Univ Calif Los Angeles, Inst Neuropsychiat, Drug Abuse Res Ctr, 1100 Glendon Ave, Suite 763, Los Angeles,CA 90024 USA

Keyword(s): HUMAN-IMMUNODEFICIENCY-VIRUS; TRANSMITTED DISEASES; HOMOSEXUAL MEN; HIV-INFECTION; SAN-FRANCISCO; COCAINE USE; CONDOMS; SEROPREVALENCE; SEROCONVERSION; TRANSMISSION

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