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Measurement of Sexual Risk Taking Among College Students

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Abstract

Current measures of sexual risk taking are either too narrowly focused to be used with college students or do not have adequate psychometric properties. The goal of the current study was to develop a broad and psychometrically sound measure of sexual risk taking. A total of 613 undergraduate students (302 men, 311 women) at a mid-sized Midwestern university in the U.S. were surveyed to develop and gather reliability and validity information on a new measure of sexual risk, the Sexual Risk Survey (SRS). The measure was found to be multifactorial with five factors. The measure was found to have good internal consistency and test–retest reliability. The SRS also demonstrated evidence of convergent and concurrent validity by its relationships with reported number of sexual partners and history of infidelity as well as measures of sensation seeking, sexual desire, substance use, sexual excitation and inhibition, and sexual health consequences. Social desirability was not found to be related to sexual risk taking scores and threat of sexual disclosure was only weakly related. An investigation of sex differences revealed that men reported greater intentions to engage in sexual risk behaviors and greater overall sexual risk taking behavior compared to women. The SRS provides researchers with a valid and comprehensive measure of sexual risk taking that can be used to clarify inconsistent findings in the literature and to assess outcome in programs designed to prevent and reduce sexual risk behaviors among college students.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Psychology, Ohio University, 200 Porter Hall, Athens, OH, 45701, USA

    Jessica A. Turchik & John P. Garske

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  1. Jessica A. Turchik
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  2. John P. Garske
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Correspondence to Jessica A. Turchik.

Appendix

Appendix

Sexual Risk Survey (SRS) Items

Instructions: Please read the following statements and record the number that is true for you over the past 6 months for each question on the blank. If you do not know for sure how many times a behavior took place, try to estimate the number as close as you can. Thinking about the average number of times the behavior happened per week or per month might make it easier to estimate an accurate number, especially if the behavior happened fairly regularly. If you’ve had multiple partners, try to think about how long you were with each partner, the number of sexual encounters you had with each, and try to get an accurate estimate of the total number of each behavior. If the question does not apply to you or you have never engaged in the behavior in the question, put a “0” on the blank. Please do not leave items blank. Remember that in the following questions “sex” includes oral, anal, and vaginal sex and that “sexual behavior” includes passionate kissing, making out, fondling, petting, oral-to-anal stimulation, and hand-to-genital stimulation. Refer to the Glossary for any words you are not sure about. Please consider only the last 6 months when answering and please be honest.

In the past six months:

  1. 1.

    How many partners have you engaged in sexual behavior with but not had sex with?

  2. 2.

    How many times have you left a social event with someone you just met?

  3. 3.

    How many times have you “hooked up” but not had sex with someone you didn’t know or didn’t know well?

  4. 4.

    How many times have you gone out to bars/parties/social events with the intent of “hooking up” and engaging in sexual behavior but not having sex with someone?

  5. 5.

    How many times have you gone out to bars/parties/social events with the intent of “hooking up” and having sex with someone?

  6. 6.

    How many times have you had an unexpected and unanticipated sexual experience?

  7. 7.

    How many times have you had a sexual encounter you engaged in willingly but later regretted?

For the next set of questions, follow the same direction as before. However, for questions 8–23, if you have never had sex (oral, anal or vaginal), please put a “0” on each blank.

  1. 8.

    How many partners have you had sex with?

  2. 9.

    How many times have you had vaginal intercourse without a latex or polyurethane condom? Note: Include times when you have used a lambskin or membrane condom.

  3. 10.

    How many times have you had vaginal intercourse without protection against pregnancy?

  4. 11.

    How many times have you given or received fellatio (oral sex on a man) without a condom?

  5. 12.

    How many times have you given or received cunnilingus (oral sex on a woman) without a dental dam or “adequate protection” (please see definition of dental dam for what is considered adequate protection)?

  6. 13.

    How many times have you had anal sex without a condom?

  7. 14.

    How many times have you or your partner engaged in anal penetration by a hand (“fisting”) or other object without a latex glove or condom followed by unprotected anal sex?

  8. 15.

    How many times have you given or received analingus (oral stimulation of the anal region, “rimming”) without a dental dam or “adequate protection”(please see definition of dental dam for what is considered adequate protection)?

  9. 16.

    How many people have you had sex with that you know but are not involved in any sort of relationship with (i.e., “friends with benefits”, “fuck buddies”)?

  10. 17.

    How many times have you had sex with someone you don’t know well or just met?

  11. 18.

    How many times have you or your partner used alcohol or drugs before or during sex?

  12. 19.

    How many times have you had sex with a new partner before discussing sexual history, IV drug use, disease status and other current sexual partners?

  13. 20.

    How many times (that you know of) have you had sex with someone who has had many sexual partners?

  14. 21.

    How many partners (that you know of) have you had sex with who had been sexually active before you were with them but had not been tested for STIs/HIV?

  15. 22.

    How many partners have you had sex with that you didn’t trust?

  16. 23.

    How many times (that you know of) have you had sex with someone who was also engaging in sex with others during the same time period?

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Turchik, J.A., Garske, J.P. Measurement of Sexual Risk Taking Among College Students. Arch Sex Behav 38, 936–948 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10508-008-9388-z

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