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Bringing Your Baggage to Bed: Associations of Previous Relationship Experiences with Sexual Risk

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Abstract

Delaying sexual intercourse after initiating a relationship (i.e., increasing the presexual period) and delaying unprotected sex can reduce HIV/STI risk. Past relationship and risk experiences may influence sexual decisions in a current relationship. We examined how past relationship and risk experiences of both members of 296 young pregnant couples influenced length of presexual period and time to unprotected sex. Forty-six percent of couples had sex within the first month of seeing each other and had unprotected sex within 1 month of having sex. Length of presexual period and time to unprotected sex were significantly shorter in their current relationship than their previous relationship for both men and women (all p < 0.05). Female past relationship and risk factors were more strongly associated with length of presexual relationship than male past relationship and risk factors. Both male and female past relationship and risk factors were associated with time to unprotected sex.

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Acknowledgments

This study is supported by grants from the National Institute of Mental Health (1R01MH075685) and (5P30MH062294).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Yale School of Public Health, Room 415, 60 College, New Haven, CT, 06510, USA

    Trace Kershaw & Tashuna Albritton

  2. Yale Center for Interdisciplinary Research on AIDS, New Haven, CT, USA

    Trace Kershaw, Tashuna Albritton, Heather Sipsma & Derrick Gordon

  3. Human Services Research Institute, Cambridge, MA, USA

    Rachael Gerber

  4. Department of Public Health, City University of New York, New York, NY, USA

    Anna Divney

  5. Global Health Institute, Yale University, New Haven, CT, USA

    Heather Sipsma

  6. Department of Neonatal and Fetal Medicine, Yale School of Medicine, New Haven, CT, USA

    Urania Magriples

  7. The Consultation Center, Department of Psychiatry, Yale School of Medicine, New Haven, CT, USA

    Derrick Gordon

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  1. Trace Kershaw
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  2. Rachael Gerber
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  3. Anna Divney
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  4. Tashuna Albritton
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  5. Heather Sipsma
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  6. Urania Magriples
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  7. Derrick Gordon
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Correspondence to Trace Kershaw.

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Kershaw, T., Gerber, R., Divney, A. et al. Bringing Your Baggage to Bed: Associations of Previous Relationship Experiences with Sexual Risk. AIDS Behav 18, 159–170 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10461-012-0349-0

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10461-012-0349-0

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