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Reducing Risky Sex Among College Students: Prospects for Context-Specific Interventions

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Abstract

Better understanding the contribution of specific drinking contexts to alcohol use and risky sexual behaviors can help target effective prevention programs to specific locations and types of drinkers. We used a sample of college students to investigate whether more frequent and heavier drinking in specific drinking contexts was associated with unplanned sex, unprotected sex, and number of sexual contacts. Greater frequencies of drinking in almost all contexts (Greek parties, off-campus parties, campus events, dorms, and bars) were associated with greater numbers of sexual partners, unplanned sex and unprotected sex; heavier drinking at bars increased risks related to all outcomes. Risks related to frequencies of use of contexts were similar for men and women, but heavier drinking at bars was associated with more unprotected sex among males only. We discuss these observations in light of their implications for developing context-specific interventions to reduce community viral load in high-risk populations.

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Acknowledgments

Research for and preparation of this manuscript were supported by National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism Grants R21-AA021438 to the first author and P60-AA006282 to the co-author (Gruenewald).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Behavioral and Community Health Sciences, University of Pittsburgh Graduate School of Public Health, 219 Parran Hall, 130 DeSoto Street, Pittsburgh, PA, 15261, USA

    Christina Mair

  2. Prevention Research Center, Pacific Institute for Research and Evaluation, Oakland, CA, USA

    William R. Ponicki & Paul J. Gruenewald

Authors
  1. Christina Mair
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  2. William R. Ponicki
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  3. Paul J. Gruenewald
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Correspondence to Christina Mair.

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Mair, C., Ponicki, W.R. & Gruenewald, P.J. Reducing Risky Sex Among College Students: Prospects for Context-Specific Interventions. AIDS Behav 20 (Suppl 1), 109–118 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10461-015-1147-2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10461-015-1147-2

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