These tools will no longer be maintained as of December 31, 2024. Archived website can be found here. PubMed4Hh GitHub repository can be found here. Contact NLM Customer Service if you have questions.


Pubmed for Handhelds

PUBMED FOR HANDHELDS

Search MEDLINE/PubMed

  • Title: Sex, drugs, relationships, contraception, and fears of disease on a college campus over 17 years.
    Author: Murstein BI, Mercy T.
    Journal: Adolescence; 1994; 29(114):303-22. PubMed ID: 8085483.
    Abstract:
    Sexual behavior was surveyed in 1991 for the fourth time in 17 years at a northeastern college with 98 male and 148 female participants. Variables included virginity, religiosity, relationship to parents, relationship to last sex partner, sex philosophy, attractiveness, drug use, contraceptives used, fear of AIDS and effect of this fear on behavior. Results indicated a 91% nonvirginity rate for men, 76% for women. Both genders initiated sex at the same age. Men exhibited a more liberal sexual philosophy. Neither gender had a sexual double standard. Women's attractiveness, but not men's, related to nonvirginity. Relationship with parents was not associated with virginity, but religiosity was. Drug use was related to nonvirginity. Frequent drug users had less commitment to last sex partner than did infrequent users. Nondisease-protective contraceptive methods decreased. Despite fear of AIDS, only one-third of the students practiced "safe sex" consistently, and men were less concerned with practicing it than women. Commitment has not increased since the 1986 survey. The premarital sexual beliefs and behaviors of a sample of 98 male and 148 female undergraduates at a small liberal arts college in northeastern US were investigated in a 1991 survey. Comparable surveys had been administered at the same college in 1974, 1979, and 1986. The proportion of male students who were no longer virgins was 82.6% in 1974, 91.0% in 1979, 78.4% in 1986, and 90.8% in 1991; among female students, these statistics were 74.8%, 88.4%, 75.3%, and 75.7%, respectively. Self-reported religiosity was significantly and positively associated with male and female virginity. The majority of students embraced a personal philosophy that condoned premarital sex as long as it took place in the context of a meaningful relationship. Frequent use of drugs and/or alcohol was positive correlated with a high number of sexual partners, independent of age. Never-use of contraception was reported by 5.3% of sexually active students in 1991 compared to 7.2% in 1986. The contraceptive methods most frequently reported in the 1991 survey included condoms (59.2%), pill (42.1%), withdrawal (21.7%), rhythm (6.3%), and sponge (5.8%). The number of students who used condoms at least 50% of the time was significantly higher in 1991 than in 1986. Only 35% of students reported use of condoms at all times. 10.9% of students indicated that fear of contracting a disease prevents them from engaging in intercourse. 43% of female and 32% of male students stated they had deliberately reduced their number of sexual partners due to a fear of human immunodeficiency virus. In general, survey findings suggested that female students were more concerned than their male counterparts about the quality of their relationships and the need for safe sex, but were unable to exert a significant effect on the male partner's sexual practices, presumably because of their lack of assertiveness.
    [Abstract] [Full Text] [Related] [New Search]